Fulham look to end a winless run that currently stands at ten league matches when they welcome Leicester to Craven Cottage on Wednesday night (6pm; TV: Live on BT Sport).
Can manager Scott Parker’s men regain the winning thread? Read on for our full match preview and betting tips.
Recent form
Fulham come into this match off the back of what would probably be labelled by the fans as a disappointing draw against relegation rivals West Brom. That result did mark two games on the bounce without tasting defeat, which in their position, isn’t something to sneeze at. As for the visitors, things are starting to unravel ever so slightly. Leicester came off second best against Leeds last time out, while they drew against Everton prior to that. Taking just one point from a possible six has seen Rodger’s side drop to fourth in the Premier League. They’re now five points behind league leaders Man City, who are now heavy odds-on shots for the EPL title.
Not easy to get the better of
A quick glance at the league table shows that Fulham are in a bad way. They’re in a hole that they need to swiftly climb out of. Yet, Scott Parker’s men are seemingly not the simplest team to get the better of. They may be without a win in ten league matches, which goes a long way to explaining why they’re seven points from safety, but they’ve only lost two of those ten. Since their last win in the Premier League, which coincidentally came against Leicester at the King Power back November of last year, Fulham have avoided defeat against the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool.
Missing key players
After Sunday’s home defeat to Leeds, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers was quick to point to the hole left by the absence of both Wilfried Ndidi and Jamie Vardy. It’s no secret that that duo is critical to Leicester success. Without the ball-winning and general all-round midfield patrolling of Ndidi, the Foxes lack bite, while without Vardy’s penetrative runs in behind opposition defences, Wednesday’s visitors seem far less capable of stretching teams, which has led to a decrease in clear-cut chances being created. It is little coincidence that Leicester have failed to score multiple goals in each of the two league games since the forward became unavailable.
The reverse fixture
When the pair met earlier in the campaign, Fulham came out on top by two goals to one, and it is not as if they were lucky either. Despite being outperformed in terms of shots taken, as Leicester registered 17 to their nine, Fulham created better scoring opportunities than their opponents, as the fact that they created 1.8 expected goals, compared to Leicester’s 0.9. A repeat of that effort would surely see the survival hopefuls do well on Wednesday.
Away form starting to wane?
Leicester have been strong on their travels this season. In fact, in terms of travelling points accumulated, Wednesday’s visitors are the second-best team in the Premier League. Having said that, their last few efforts of the road haven’t been too impressive. Last time out on the road, they drew 1-1 away against Everton, and created less than they have done for most of the campaign in the process, posting a rather subdued 1.0 expected goals for. Prior to that, they edged out Newcastle away from home, winning by two goals to one, but again, their performance was anything but imperious. On that occasion, the Foxes created a rather measly 0.9 expected goals for. Such numbers won’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of the home players ahead of this clash.
Give Cottagers a chance
Given where the two teams are in the table, it’s no surprise that Leicester are strong favourites for this fixture, and it would be wrong to say that they’ve not been the superior side overall this season. However, there’s reason to feel that Fulham deserve more respect in the early betting, so much so that ‘Fulham Draw No Bet’, at what is a generous price, stands out as a viable option, one that appears to represent a slice of value.
As touched in this preview on above, the hosts have been no pushovers during their winless run, while they’ve got some pleasing results against some top teams. Their efforts when drawing 1-1 at home against Liverpool not that long ago point towards them having the capabilities of getting a positive result against a Leicester side that has slumped a bit of late and that is without a couple of key components. Moreover, if the Cottagers can repeat the efforts that saw them topple the Foxes at the back end of last year, then there’s no reason why they can’t claim all three points.
All in all, what with Leicester’s injury problems coupled with their recent downgrade in performances, this might just be the right time for Fulham, who are a bit better than the league table suggests. So our FFC vs LCFC betting tip for this preview is:
- Back Fulham with the draw as no bet @ best odds of 2/1 with BetVictor.
Compare FFC vs LCFC Match Winner Betting Odds from Bookies
 |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leicester | 10/11 | 19/20 | 19/20 | 19/20 | 1/1 | 20/21 |
| Draw | 5/2 | 13/5 | 5/2 | 12/5 | 12/5 | 12/5 |
| Fulham | 3/1 | 3/1 | 3/1 | 14/5 | 3/1 | 31/10 |
Bradley Gibbs is an experienced football writer. He is an expert analyst on Premier League, and all global football leagues & tournaments, for Just Bookies. Bradley has been published by many respected outlets, including USA Betting and the Racing & Football Outlook. He has also written betting strategy guides.