Fulham manager Marco Silva has to give Carlos Vinicius a chance from the start against Norwich City tomorrow.
According to stats site FBRef, the Brazilian has only played 41 minutes in all competitions so far this season.
He’s only featured twice in all competitions, coming off the bench against Luton Town and then Crystal Palace.
The 28-year-old found the back of the net against the Hatters, earning Fulham an important three points.
He couldn’t replicate those heroics against Palace on Saturday but Fulham need to find a solution to their issues in front of goal.
One of the keys to Marco Silva’s success at Fulham has been the ability to outscore the opposition.
Fulham are relatively organised in defence and have an elite goalkeeper in Bernd Leno.
However, when they were promoted from the Championship they did so by scoring more than 100 goals.
It wasn’t an issue last season either despite Aleksandar Mitrovic missing a third of the season through injury and suspension.
Vinicius deserves the opportunity to start against Norwich tomorrow and prove he should be Fulham’s first-choice striker.
Despite impressing on international duty, life at Craven Cottage hasn’t gone to plan for new signing Raul Jimenez thus far.
Vinicius should start for Fulham v Norwich
The Brazilian appeared to start the season as Silva’s third-choice striker, with Rodrigo Muniz given the nod against Tottenham in the last round of the cup.
However, that may have been because there were suggestions Vinicius could leave in the summer.
That didn’t happen but he’s still had to be patient and bide his time on the bench in the league thus far.
Silva has given Raul Jimenez as many opportunities as possible to find some form.
He’s not scored in his last 29 Premier League appearances, with his most recent league goal coming against Watford in March 2022.
Jimenez has had some good chances at Fulham but failed to show that killer instinct that he was well-known for before suffering a serious injury against Arsenal back in November 2020.
The Mexican has had plenty of opportunities, but it’s time to give Vinicius a go.
Towards the end of last season, he looked to be finding his feet in the team in place of the suspended Mitrovic.
That established connection with the likes of Willian and Andreas Pereira might be just what Silva needs right now.