Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Fulham! Facing two major challenges, is it tough for Fulham to earn points tonight?

There are many matches today, and our first topic is the Premier League game: Crystal Palace vs Fulham!

This is the first round of the Premier League after the World Cup, so the influence of the “FIFA virus” is definitely worth mentioning.

However, our main emphasis will be on Fulham’s unique trump card, which, despite securing many victories, might not work well today.

The “FIFA virus” has had very little impact on Crystal Palace since only two of their players participated in the World Cup, and they were eliminated early in the group stage, playing a total of just 406 minutes.

But for Fulham, the effect is greater because six of their players took part in the World Cup, including their star striker Mitrović.

Fulham is a team that heavily relies on set pieces and headers.

This image shows the distribution of their last 10 goal types:

It’s clear that if you exclude set pieces and penalties, their conventional scoring methods are somewhat weak.

Of course, this is understandable — if you have a top-class target man, your tactics naturally revolve around him.

Fulham employs a variety of tactical setups during set-piece attacks.

But no matter the variations, their main goal is to free up Mitrović.

Just like Van Dijk is Liverpool’s set-piece focal point, Mitrović is Fulham’s core for set pieces, receiving most of the corners.

And he has rewarded Fulham with outstanding performances.

In terms of headers, Fulham has scored 7 goals, ranking second in the Premier League;

For set pieces, they also have 7 goals, tied for second in the league;

As a newly promoted team with a total squad value of only 240 million, second lowest in the Premier League, Fulham’s rise to the top half is largely thanks to their set-piece and heading abilities.

This season, 4 of their 5 wins came narrowly through set pieces or headers.

So the question is: if their set-piece and heading threat is neutralized, is Fulham still a strong team?

Today against Crystal Palace, Fulham’s set-piece attack faces two big challenges:

First, Crystal Palace’s set-piece defense is excellent; in their last 10 Premier League matches, they conceded 10 goals but none from set pieces.

They not only have advanced set-piece defensive tactics but also a central defender with exceptional aerial ability: Andersen.

This 1.92m tall Danish international boasts a 75% success rate in aerial duels — truly impressive.

Second, Mitrović’s current form is questionable.

Hailing from rural football, Mitrović is Serbia’s national hero bearing heavy expectations. Given the poor World Cup performance and various scandals, could this affect him?

I recall the November 2020 European Championship playoff, where his missed header cost Serbia a spot, losing to Scotland and missing the group stage.

After returning to Fulham, his form dropped drastically, even losing his starting spot.

Before the Euros, he started seven consecutive matches.

Since returning from the Euros, Fulham played 30 Premier League games, but he only started 6.

As Fulham’s highest-valued player, if he weren’t performing so poorly, how could the coach afford to bench him so much?

Besides his mental state, Mitrović’s physical condition is also worrying.

He was treating a foot injury before the World Cup, was overused during the tournament, and has yet to rejoin full team training at Fulham.

Coach Silva said they are working hard to get Mitrović back to peak condition, but he might not play today.

So the situation is quite clear.

Although it’s hard to say which side is stronger overall, if one team loses a tactical key player, the gap might become obvious.

Crystal Palace is strong at home, winning 4 of their 7 home games.

Fulham’s away form is weaker, losing 4 of 7 away matches.

Considering all the factors we discussed, can Crystal Palace satisfy their fans tonight? What do you think? I’m hoping they secure the three points.

Alright, for today’s other matches, I’ll send text analyses in the evening as usual. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me. Let’s watch and understand the games together—don’t miss it!

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