SAKA, ANTONY AND 10 PREMIER LEAGUE STARS HEADING TO THEIR FIRST WORLD CUP
Fulham play QPR this weekend, and your guess is as good as ours when it comes to what the starting lineup will be.
The Whites have had a number of unnamed players suffering with coronavirus in recent weeks, and while the London outfit haven’t posted any new positive tests this week, we don’t know the status of the affected players.
Luckily, Fulham will be back in action in the FA Cup, but they could have a new-look starting XI for this game, with Scott Parker hinting that some of the lesser-seen members of Fulham’s squad could get a chance here.
“I don’t want to mention names but in terms of the squad, there are a lot of numbers here and I’m managing a big squad with numbers who want to play football,” said Parker.
“The cup brings a game here for us now where, without the game, we’d have gone three and a bit weeks without playing.
“It’s a good opportunity to use what we’ve been working on over the past couple of weeks in training, but it gives us a chance to use the squad, give people games and keep developing as a team.
“There will be an opportunity to play players who have not played as much. That’s not being disrespectful to the competition in any way.”
So, who could be in line for a shot at glory? We’re going to assess three out of favour players who could be given a chance to impress here.
Joe Bryan
Fulham’s playoff hero has slipped down the pecking order this season with Antonee Robinson starting every single game at left-back since the first international break of the season.
Bryan has played just five minutes of football since Fulham faced off with Wolves back in October, but he could be in line to get a chance here.
Bryan certainly has the ability to play his way back into Parker’s plans, after all, he was Fulham’s Man of the Match in the playoff final and this could be a great opportunity for him to once again show what he’s all about.
Neeskens Kebano
Did somebody say something about Playoff heroes?
It’s such a shame to see Neeskens Kebano struggling to get a game this season, but the nature of being in a Premier League relegation means that players don’t get much time to settle in.
Ademola Lookman, Ivan Cavaleiro and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have consigned Kebano to a spot on the bench for the majority of this season, but as we should all know by now, the Congolese magician has the ability to prove any of his doubters wrong.
Kebano earnt himself a new contract with a flurry of good performances towards the end of last season, and this may be a chance to show Fulham that they were right to hand him a new deal.
Aleksandar Mitrovic
Saying Aleksandar Mitrovic is out of favour at Fulham would have sounded crazy a few months ago, but here we are.
It’s hard to believe it, but Mitrovic has only started one game for Fulham in the past two months, and he needs to re-establish himself as a key man in the squad.
We all know that Mitro has the ability to be one of Fulham’s best players, after all, he was the Championship Golden Boot winner last season, but he’s lost that scoring touch as of late.
A game against Championship opposition would be a chance for the Serbian to get some of his confidence back, but it remains to be seen whether or not he’s included after the manager shared his disappointment in Mitrovic’s flouting lockdown rules on New Year’s Eve.
