Fulham vs Leicester – Analysis, Prediction, Team News
Monday 8th May 2023
15:00 GMT
Craven Cottage
As part of our midweek Premier League predictions, we examine Leicester’s trip to Craven Cottage. Fulham have little to play for and have lost 3 in a row – can Leicester get a result? Free betting tips and more with our Fulham vs Leicester prediction.
Premier League Form:
Fulham
Liverpool
1-0 (A)
Man City
2-1 (H)
Aston Villa
1-0 (A)
Leeds
2-1 (H)
Everton
3-1 (A)
Leicester
Everton
2-2 (H)
Leeds
1-1 (A)
Wolves
2-1 (H)
Man City
3-1 (A)
Bournemouth
1-0 (H)
Fulham vs Leicester Preview
Fulham come into this match on the back of three consecutive defeats, albeit against difficult opposition. Away to Aston Villa, at home to Manchester City and away at Liverpool who have maintained their impressive form at Anfield this season despite their travails away from home is about as difficult as it gets in the Premier League. Nevertheless, Fulham now find themselves in a position of having little to play for.
They’re mathematically safe from relegation on 45 points, five points ahead of 11th-placed Crystal Palace and nine points off a European place with just four games remaining. Fulham’s season would appear to be wrapped up for the most part. Despite this, they played well last time out at Anfield and were rather unlucky to be on the wrong end of a contentious penalty decision and could well have equalised late in the second half.
Overall, this Premier League campaign has been a successful one for Silva’s men, and now they’ll close out the campaign away to Southampton following this fixture, with a derby against Crystal Palace and a visit to Old Trafford rounding off the season.
The visitors will no doubt be disappointed with their failure to record a home victory over Everton, with every point crucial at this stage of the season. James Maddison’s missed penalty proved pivotal, as the Everton coaching staff had done their homework and analysed that the Leicester playmaker hits 60% of his penalty kicks down the middle.
Those dropped points leave Leicester level on points with Leeds and Nottingham Forest on 30 points, one point clear of 19th-placed Everton and six clear of rock-bottom Southampton. Compared with those four clubs, Leicester are in better form, but they’ll surely be conscious of the fact that they face what looks to be a very difficult run-in.
They face a Liverpool side with an outside chance of Champions League football, and one who at the very least will be looking to secure some kind of European football for next season. An away match at St James’ Park against a Newcastle outfit who are rarely dropping points at home never mind losing comes next, and they’ll perhaps be hoping that West Ham are mathematically safe by the time their season finale rolls around.
Team News
Injuries and Suspensions
Fulham:
Might Not Play:
Will Not Play: Kurzawa, Mitrovic, Pereira, Ream
Leicester:
Might Not Play: Bertrand, Evans, Pereira
Will Not Play: Iheanacho, Justin, Vestergaard
Fulham vs Leicester Lineups (Predicted)
Fulham (4-2-3-1): Leno; Robinson, Diop, Adarabioyo, Tete; Reed, Palhinha; Wilson, Cairney, Willian; Vinicius
Leicester (4-3-3): Iversen; Faes, Soyuncu, Kristiansen, Castagne; Ndidi, Tielemans; Soumare; Barnes, Maddison, Vardy
Fulham vs Leicester Analysis
Fulham Can Exploit Leicester’s Open Approach
Leicester’s results may have improved, but what hasn’t improved is their propensity to give up clear chances, particularly in transition. For their part, Fulham have consistently demonstrated their ability to attack directly without allowing the opposition to settle in and organise themselves. They’ve continued to create chances without the presence of Aleksandar Mitrovic, although admittedly they have been less successful at converting them.
If anything, Leicester would be more comfortable if Fulham were more possession-oriented and more ball-dominant. If that were the case, it’s likely that Fulham would have even less success converting half chances, but as it is, Fulham recognise that in order to generate the best possible opportunities they’re better off risking possession by playing more directly into the channels in an effort to stretch and unsettle the opposition defence.
It’s clear that in order to generate their own attacking threat, Leicester have to give up a lot going the other way. This is common among many relegation-threatened teams – Leeds and Southampton suffer from the same conundrum – when they look to play expansive football to try to win games, they take a lot of punishment going the other way. The cynic in us suggests that they should try to rein it in to maximise their chances, but with time running out, we expect Leicester to go for it.
Leicester Won’t Fear Fulham
Fulham’s Premier League campaign has effectively been a tale of two halves. They started the season in superb fashion and appeared to be a viable outside bet for European qualification. Perhaps as a result of limited squad depth compared with most of the division, they’ve been unable to sustain that level of performance during the second half of the season, and as a result, they’ve lost nine of their last 15 games.
There’s very little between the two sides over the last 15 games – Fulham have 14 points, and Leicester have 13. Their goal difference is almost identical – Fulham’s is -5, Leicester’s is -6. Fulham may well have been motivated to play Manchester City and Liverpool in their last two matches, but with very little to play for between now and the end of the season, it’s possible that they might not approach this match with the same intensity.
Leicester are consistently creating chances, despite their continued defensive problems, and they’ll almost certainly look to take the game to Fulham here with time running out between now and the end of the season. Leicester aren’t really set up to go to Craven Cottage, defend in two banks of four and attempt to grind out a win like West Ham were able to.
Our Prediction
We feel this will be something of an open contest. Leicester will be keen to get the three points with only four games remaining, and in turn, we think that Fulham can exploit Leicester’s open approach in the same way that both Leeds and Everton were able to. Fulham might not have much to play for between now and the end of the season, but we anticipate they won’t switch off in attack.
Where we think Fulham might switch off is in their intensity out of possession. Nine defeats in 15 matches suggests that despite their excellent start to the season, Fulham’s level is perhaps that of a lower midtable team, and Leicester are generating more of an attacking threat lately. Therefore, we predict a high-scoring draw.
Fulham 2-2 Leicester
Fulham vs Leicester Betting Tip – Draw Odds:
5/2
10Bet – 50% up to £50 Welcome Bonus
Sport is our life at 10bet. We don’t miss a shot, stroke or tackle, and we make sure you won’t too. We cover football betting, horse racing betting, tennis betting, cricket betting, basketball betting, and so much more. But if greyhounds or Gaelic hurling is your thing, you’ll find that here too.
3.40
Luckland Sports – Welcome Offer, Bet £15 Get £10
Sports Betting at Its Best
Luckland online Sports betting is for all Sports fans. With over 20 Sports to choose from, both pre-match & live, we have an extensive coverage of leagues and events from all over the world, covered 24/7.
3.50
Everygame (USA and Canada) – Exclusive Sign-Up Bonuses
Everygame was the first online sportsbook to hit the world wide web and paved the way for many of the online sportsbooks we see online today. Thousands of daily live betting options. Up to $750 Sign-Up Bonus!