Fulham face a potentially tricky trip to the Potteries to take on Championship side Stoke in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.
Fulham suffered more misery against Manchester City in midweek, as they were beaten 3-0 at the Etihad.
Marco Silva’s visitors have now lost four of their previous five Premier League encounters (W1-D0-L4) – including their last three on the road – leaving them in 12th position in the table.
The Cottagers survived a scare against current Championship leaders Middlesbrough in the previous round, as they came from a goal down to win 3-1.
Stoke reached the fourth round of the FA Cup by defeating the side currently second in the Championship table, as a late goal from Lamine Cisse gave them a 1-0 victory over Coventry City.
However, Mark Robins’s hosts have failed to win any of their next six matches in the Championship (W0-D3-L3), with their 1-0 defeat at struggling Charlton Athletic seeing the Potters slip down to 14th in the table, four points outside of the playoffs.
How the bookies view it: Fulham favourites
Given they are a division above, it will come as no surprise that Fulham have been installed as favourites to advance to the next round, with bet365 pricing the Cottagers at just 4/11 to qualify, whilst the win inside 90 minutes is 3/4.
Stoke are 2/1 underdogs to reach the fifth round, with the win inside regulation time priced at 7/2.
Head to head: Three wins on the spin for the Cottagers
Fulham have won each of their previous three meetings with the Potters, including a 2-3 success on their last visit to the bet365 Stadium in January 2022 in the Championship.
Players to watch: Watch out for Wilson
Harry Wilson has enjoyed a tremendous season for Fulham so far this campaign, as he has scored eight goals and provided four assists across his 25 Premier League appearances.
The Welshman also came off the bench to score one and set one up against Middlesbrough in the previous round, and the 21/20 on offer at bet365 for him to Score or Assist appeals to me.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Predicted line-ups:
Stoke City have a whole load of players missing for this clash, with Bosun Lawal, Ben Gibson, Viktor Johansson, Lewis Baker, Divin Mubama, Robert Bozenik, Ato Ampah, Sam Gallagher, Junior Tchamadeu and Gavin Bazunu all unavailable.
Fulham are expected to be without midfield duo Sasa Lukic and Tom Cairney.
Stoke City: Simkin, Talovierov, Phillips, Wilmot, Cresswell, Seko, Nzonzi, Rak-Sakyi, Rigo, Thomas, Cisse
Fulham: Lecomte, Castagne, Diop, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Reed, Bobb, Wilson, Smith Rowe, Kevin, Jimenez
Anything else catch the eye?
Neither of these two clubs come into this clash in great form, and I’d be surprised if we saw a thrilling cup tie here.
Stoke’s opening nine matches in league and cup since the turn of the year have averaged just 1.33 goals per game, with Under 2.5 Goals being profitable in eight (89%) of those clashes, and a repeat pays an appealing 1/1 at bet365.
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