MATCH THREAD: " FULHAM v CARDIFF CITY " MATCH THREAD

FULHAM (2) CARDIFF CITY (0)
Thursday 30th July, 7.45pm
Championship Play-Off Semi Final 2nd Leg
Craven Cottage 



Fulham hold a 2 goal lead going into the second leg


Match to be played in front of no supporters, for information on how to watch the match on TV or to stream it - see below


Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic will undergo a fitness test ahead of their Championship play-off semi-final second leg against Cardiff on Thursday night.




NEIL HARRIS:


Not been afraid to make changes, shape and players, tempted to change from the start?

"Yeah, quite possibly, a lot of things go through your mind as a manager - personnel, shape, what’s the best way to go. Tactically, what’s the best way to go to get back in the game.

"I’ll say no more..."


TEAM NEWS:

Any fitness issues with Lee Tomlin after three starts in eight days?


NEIL HARRIS:

"The thought process is always about the bigger picture and all the games. Tommo, we will see how he is tomorrow.

"He wants to play because that’s his character.

"We will look at it tomorrow and how I see the game going. We don’t have to score a goal in the first 10 minutes."

No new injuries

Greg Cunningham is still a little way off at the moment.
He is back in full training with the first team.

Isaac Vassell is still out injured.





How can I watch this match on TV?

Match is live on Sky Sports.

About Fulham

Fulham Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fulham, London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded in 1879, they are the oldest football club from London to play in the Football League.

The club has spent 26 seasons in English football's top division, the majority of these in two spells during the 1960s and 2000s. The latter spell was associated with former chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed, after the club had climbed up from the fourth tier in the 1990s. Fulham have reached two major finals: in 1975, as a Second Division team, they contested the FA Cup Final for the only time in their history, losing 2–0 to West Ham United, and in 2010 they reached the final of the UEFA Europa League, which they contested with Atlético Madrid in Hamburg, losing 2–1 after extra time.

Fulham's main rivalries are with fellow West London clubs Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers and Brentford. The club adopted a white shirt and black socks as the kit in 1903, which has been used ever since.

Previous Meeting 

We lost 2-0 at home to Fulham on Monday.

Team News - Predicted Line-Ups

Fulham: Rodak, Odoi, Hector, Ream, Bryan, Arter, Cairney, Knockaert, Onomah, Kebano, Mitrovic

Cardiff City: Smithies, Bacuna, Nelson, Morrison, Bennett, Pack, Ralls, Tomlin, Hoilett, Mendez-Laing, Glatzel

Form - Last Three Games 

Cardiff City 0-2 Fulham
Wigan Athletic 1-1 Fulham
Fulham 5-3 Sheffield Wednesday

Cardiff City 0-2 Fulham
Cardiff City 3-0 Hull City
Middlesbrough 1-3 Cardiff City

Match Odds

Fulham - Evens
Cardiff City - 11/4
Draw - 12/5

Fulham to qualify - 1/33
Cardiff City to qualify - 14/1

Predictions

Post your predictions below 

Match Odds

Fulham to qualify - 1/33

Cardiff City to qualify - 14/1

City win on penalties.

City winner in extra time.

Pre-match facts:



No team have ever failed to reach the Championship playoff-final after winning the semi-final first leg by 2+ goals (15 previous instances).




Fulham are unbeaten in their last six home games against Cardiff (W3 D3), including 2-0 victory as recently as July 10th.




Cardiff have won six of their last eight games on the road (L2), with four of those victories coming by a two-goal margin or larger.



Fulham are unbeaten in their last eight games, winning six and drawing two whilst keeping five clean sheets during this run.




During the regular Championship season, Fulham made 588 sequences of 10+ passes from open play; 139 more than any other side in the division. In contrast, Cardiff City made just 88 – the fewest of any side.



Cardiff City had the oldest average starting XI during the regular Championship season, with an average age of 28 years and 143 days old.



Fulham’s Josh Onomah has been directly involved in five goals in nine games since the restart (3 goals, 2 assists), after just two in 23 league appearances in 2019-20 before the break (1 goal, 1 assist).



Cardiff City scored 28 set-piece goals during the 2019-20 Championship season; two more than any other side. In contrast, only Barnsley (12) score fewer such goals than Fulham (15).


Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored 14 goals in 20 Championship home games this season, netting three in his last two games at Craven Cottage.


Lee Tomlin has had a hand in 18 Championship goals this season (8 goals, 10 assists); eight more than any other Cardiff City player.

NEIL HARRIS:

"The thought process is always about the bigger picture and all the games. Tommo, we will see how he is tomorrow.

"He wants to play because that’s his character.

"We will look at it tomorrow and how I see the game going. We don’t have to score a goal in the first 10 minutes."

No new injuries

NEIL HARRIS:


Not been afraid to make changes, shape and players, tempted to change from the start?

"Yeah, quite possibly, a lot of things go through your mind as a manager - personnel, shape, what’s the best way to go. Tactically, what’s the best way to go to get back in the game.

"I’ll say no more..."

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0-3 Cardiff bamba to score winner in stoppage time

Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic will undergo a fitness test ahead of their Championship play-off semi-final second leg against Cardiff on Thursday night.

Team news

Parker will hope that key star Mitrovic recovers from his knock in time for Thursday night's clash, with versatile winger Ivan Cavaleiro also still absent due to a hamstring injury.

Visitors Cardiff remain without striker Isaac Vassell, but left-back Greg Cunningham is back in training once more.

Good luck tonight City. Whether we get to the final or not, I am satisfied with the season since Neil Harris arrived.
We can look forward to next season with optimism.
I'd like to see most of the squad kept together at the club with the exception of two or three changes for next season.
I'm sure this group with a little more quality in certain areas will challenge again next season.
However, if we did go up then wholesale changes would be required which will be more difficult than ever this summer.

14/1 to qualify decent odds at last, not sure what I'll do with 14 extra houses but I'll find a use for them
Or is it only 13 extra? still that will do

An early goal would put massive pressure on them. But being caught out early in the game would essentially kill it for us, if it isn’t gone already. We need to be in their faces from the off and not let them settle into their passing game.

Paul Tierney will be the referee for our play-off semi final second leg at Fulham on Thursday night.

Tierney is a Premier League referee and has been in charge of 25 matches in the top division this season as well as two Championships games and one Europa League game - showing an average of 3.25 yellow cards per game.

He has shown three red cards this season, all in the Premier League.

Tierney was in charge of our 3-2 home win over Barnsley this season, where he showed six yellow cards.

Us win tonight not realistically ,it's never been done but never say never.
Done well to get this far,come on boys do us proud

Mitrovic ruled OUT of tonight's clash...

Not even on the bench!

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Heart says city, head say Fulham (quite comfortably)

Pack was a revelation against Hull but they were shite, Fulham on the other hand are a totally different proposition.

And so it begins...

C'mon, you Bluebirds....!

Bacuna puts pressure on Bryan and forces a throw-in in a good area for Will Vaulks.

Yes

0-1

1-1

GAME ON....!

Curtis

OOPS! B'stard...!

LATEST: FULHAM 1 - 1 CARDIFF CITY

Bennett is a fraud as wing back he should have dismantled Reid and what the f**k was Bacuna doing marking

Abysmal

Curtis Nelsons reading of the game is shockingly poor. He has no idea of when to stay or go when teams are attacking us.

He ran away from reid for that goal and the first leg he didnt even see where the ball was.

Morrison down in the Fulham 6 yard box after a clash with their keeper...

Doesn't look too serious and another attack looks to have petered out with a drop ball being played on the touchline

Drinks break

And here