Another Saturday, two wins, and the Fulham faithful beginning to believe in Slavisa. It all sounds positive and optimistic, but let's not get carried away yet. These are the bread and butter games of the Championship, games against mid table sides, where anything can happen. Preston showed last season that they are not just cannon fodder and nothing suggests that they will be cannon fodder this time round. Jozabed has finally signed for the whites, and all in all he appears to be the type of player Slavisa needs. Creative, energetic and ambitious, he will definitely give 110% for us.
Preston North End-
Grayson is a wily old coach and knows his way around this league. Don't expect tiki taka football from a Grayson team however. Preston are likely to have a high work rate in a team that will be defensively and midfieldwise well organized. Last season they were difficult to beat, and this season should be more of the same. The only household names are Beckford, Pringle and Lindergard. Beckford is the nearly man, after a brilliant early career he didn't cut it in the Prem., and now finds himself as not much more than an average Championship striker. But, we shouldn't be fooled by that, as he is still capable of being in the right place at the right time, and he is still an excellent finisher. FFC fans will hope that Pringle does not show his best form otherwise we may be ruing selling him. Overall, i would expect Preston to try and wear us down with their organization, and we will need to be wary of set pieces as this is how many of their goals arrive.
Fulham-
Slavisa knows how he wants us to play, and the players seem to understand his system. It is unlikely that new signing Jozabed will start, but with Slavisa anything is possible. Realistically, we can expect to see the same team who turned out against Newcastle, with the only possible change coming up front. Preston's back four is not the quickest, so I would expect Woodrow or Aluko to be used to test their lack of pace at some time. Whether Slavisa starts with Smith or Woodrow is the only possible surprise, in my opinion. I doubt Slavisa will ask the team to be too cautious as it won't suit his style of play. I expect the same ratio of caution and adventure that we showed against Newcastle.
Prediction-
This is not going to be a very high scoring game, and I expect a midfield battle in the first half. If Fulham score early on, then I can see the boys playing on the break and going on to win the game. If Preston score early on, then they will defend and it will be up to Fulham to break them down. If Preston have not scored in the first half, I can't see them winning the game, as it is not natural for them to press forward and leave gaps at the back for Ayite and Aluko to exploit with their pace.
Predicted score: 1-1, or a possible 2-0 win for Fulham if they score in the first half.
In Slavisa we trust. COYWs.
© Nic Smith
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