Premier League Team Preview #15: Fulham

In this series, each Premier League club will be previewed from an FPL perspective, analysing their predicted lineup, short and long-term fixtures and key FPL prospects before a final verdict is given. Please note that predicted lineups are based on existing players and signings close to completion at the time of writing.

Predicted Lineup

The predicted lineup given here still has a degree of uncertainty ahead of Saturday’s home encounter against Crystal Palace. However, 10 of these players started the club’s final pre-season friendly against Celta Vigo with only Alfie Mawson not involved as he has yet to return following knee surgery during the summer.

With that in mind, there are two possible options for Slaviša Jokanović. The first would be to simply slot Denis Odoi into centre-back to cover for Mawson. Odoi and Ream were the mainstay centre-back pair during the excellent 23 game unbeaten run that propelled Fulham into the play-offs. However, Odoi’s lack of height at just 5 foot 10 and tendency to give the ball away when Fulham play out of defence means it is difficult to see him retain that role following the step up to the top tier of English football.

The other option would be shifting Le Marchand into centre-back and Ryan Sessegnon to left-back with Aboubakar Kamara coming into the team out wide. This is arguably the more likely outcome, unless Fulham move swiftly in the transfer market before Thursday’s deadline. For Fulham’s final friendly on Saturday against Celta Vigo, Fulham’s team was exactly that listed above apart from Kamara being in the side ahead of Mawson, facilitated by those position changes.

Jokanović is still reportedly looking to improve the club’s squad with up to five new signings. That article suggests that the Serbian manager hopes for defensive acquisitions, which may allow Mawson to be replaced in the above lineup for the first few gameweeks. This could either be directly if a new centre-back was signed, or a new left-back would allow Le Marchand to move into centre-back. Calum Chambers has been linked with a loan move, suggesting he could play alongside Ream at the heart of the defence whilst Mawson is out injured.

Jokanović’s hope for new arrivals does not end there as he wants cover for both defensive midfielder Kevin McDonald and striker Aleksandar Mitrović. McDonald is expected to start in Gameweek 1 in a midfield three with new arrival Jean Michaël Seri and Wembley hero Tom Cairney. The ability of Seri to play in either a box-to-box role alongside the deeper-lying McDonald and creativity of Cairney or in McDonald’s deep-lying position with Johansen coming in to push further forward helps Fulham’s flexibility if no new central midfielder is signed. However I expect McDonald to keep his place during the initial weeks given that he made the lineup in Saturday’s friendly and the fact that Jokanović is actively looking for back-up to McDonald, suggesting his style is integral to their plans in midfield for the coming season.

Marcus Bettinelli will provide competition for Fabri in goal, however the former Besiktas man will most likely be first choice, having started in the club’s final friendly in what appeared to be a full-strength side.

Fixtures

Short-Term

For those planning an early wildcard during the first international break, Fulham provide a very useful option for investment. A trip to Wembley against a depleted Tottenham side is sandwiched between home encounters against Crystal Palace and Burnley before a trip to the Amex on 1st September. But with Alfie Mawson injured for this period, I would urge caution on defensive investment.

Long-Term

Looking beyond Gameweek 4, Fulham face Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United in the subsequent 12 gameweeks. Perhaps this points to either investing in Fulham assets from Gameweek 1 or avoiding them completely until a more favourable run of fixtures arises. What is close to certain is that Fulham will play the same style regardless of opponent so holding an attacker through a tougher run of fixtures would not be the worst idea. Should Fulham be in a fight for survival towards the end of the season and therefore still have something significant to play for, investment on your second wildcard could be worthwhile ahead of fixtures against Watford, Everton, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Wolves and Newcastle from Gameweek 33-38.

Defensive Prospects

There is very little to get excited about from a defensive perspective. Granted, they conceded just 17 goals during the second half of the season (23 games), however that covered all but one of their unbeaten run. Even if they were playing in the Championship, their performances and number of clean sheets would regress. The rise into the Premier League will make it even harder to reach such strong defensive numbers.

The goal threat of Alfie Mawson may provide a long-term option similarly to his Swansea days in what could be a leaky defence, especially if his price dropped closer to £4.5m as a result of his early season absence.

Attacking Prospects

Fulham’s main strengths are during the attacking phases of play which makes investment here much more enticing.

Andre Schürrle coming in at £6m in FPL is perhaps a red herring despite appearing a real coup for the club. With all due respect to Fulham, leaving Dortmund for them can only be described as a step down and we have to consider what has forced that move. His 18 months at Chelsea suggest part of the reason for his move was the attraction of living in London once again. However, just three league goals in two years at Dortmund is perhaps justification for the German club loaning him out.

If in doubt, I would always approach new signings with caution as they will require time to adapt to their new surroundings. The same could be applied to Jean Michaël Seri, an excellent purchase for the club but he is not a prolific goalscorer from midfield with one goal every ten league games. Further complications arise through his medical condition which makes it difficult to train and play in cold temperatures. It may be tough for him to be a start every week once the heat wave in England comes to an end.

This leaves three options: Tom Cairney (£5.0m), Ryan Sessegnon (£6.5m) and Aleksandar Mitrović (£6.5m) and any of the three could arguably be included in your Gameweek 1 squad.

Cairney looks nothing more than a decent bench option. He will have licence to break forward from central midfield in what is an attacking team, feeding Schürrle, Mitrović and Sessegnon. Penalty duties are a further potential attraction for the former Hull man. Norwood (3) and Kamara (1) scored the club’s penalties last season but with Norwood’s loan spell now over and Kamara set for a bench role, it looks set to be between Cairney and Mitrović.

With this in mind, Cairney has the potential to be this season’s Luka Milivojević should he assume spot kick duties. Unfortunately, we are only talking in hypothetical terms here so his potential for points remain unknown, hence he can only be considered a bench option at this stage.

Academy graduate Ryan Sessegnon has certainly been a popular pick amongst the existing 2.5 million managers with 11.4% ownership. Within the FPL Twitter community, an opposite view has been taken with many fearing he will be fielded as a left-back to start the season due to the club’s current lack of defensive numbers. If Calum Chambers or another centre-back is signed, the back four is likely to be Christie, new CB, Ream and Le Marchand, allowing Sessegnon to move forward to left-wing. That transfer situation is certainly one to keep an eye on during the final few days of the Premier League transfer window.

Another issue for many people is the price. This has also been applied to Mitrović as that £6.5m tag being given to players yet to really prove themselves at this level has appalled swathes of managers.

What I would say to this is that Fulham are not your average newly promoted team. A run of 23 league games unbeaten from December to April demonstrates both the skill and resilience of this team to grind out results. Of course it is a big step up to compete in the Premier League but that run to end the season is unprecedented for a team promoted from the Championship.

Sessegnon and Mitrović were vital to Fulham’s promotion effort as they recorded 15 goals in 46 games and 12 goals in 17 games respectively. As young players, both have the potential to improve significantly and take to the Premier League like a duck to water. This is not to say either are a must but disregarding players because they are promoted players that cost £6.5m is a very simplistic way of viewing the game.

Mitrović has matured since his days in the Premier League with Newcastle, turning into an efficient striker for both club and country through his ability to score goals and hold up play. Similarly, Sessegnon is improving leaps and bounds every season and should the club sign a defender before Thursday’s deadline, fears of him lining up in defence will be all but vanquished.

With the aforementioned run of four fixtures to start the season, one of these two attacking assets are certainly worthy of consideration for Gameweek 1.

Final Verdict

As a newly promoted team, we can never tell how Fulham will take to Premier League life, especially as our article on such clubs refuted the suggestion that they traditionally get off to a good start.

However, what we do know is that both in terms of style and form at the end of last season, Fulham are fairly unique compared to the average play-off winner. They are comparable to a side like Bournemouth who struggle to keep clean sheets, especially during their first Premier League season but have always scored enough goals to a) remain in the division and b) provide us with some fantasy gems.

The key to owning any Fulham assets is of course timing, but with Crystal Palace, Burnley and Brighton during the first four gameweeks, it seems that many managers could be wrongly ignoring either Sessegnon or Mitrović at £6.5m.

Written by @FPL_Guidance

Other articles in this series:

#1: Arsenal

#2: Watford

#3: Liverpool

#4: Huddersfield

#5: Tottenham

#6: Everton

#7: West Ham

#8: Brighton

#9: Manchester City

#10: Newcastle