Silva relishing Bournemouth battle following Boxing Day heroics

Fulham boss Marco Silva is relishing his side’s upcoming clash with fellow Premier League high-flyers Bournemouth following their dramatic Boxing Day win over Chelsea.

The Cottagers earned their first away victory against the Blues in any competition since October 1979 thanks to goals from substitutes Rodrigo Muniz and Harry Wilson.

Fulham moved to eighth in the table with that triumph, a point behind this Sunday’s opponents, and Silva is expecting another tough test for his squad at Craven Cottage.

"What a battle it's going to be. Andoni Iraola is doing a great job. Games against Bournemouth are always tight," Silva said.

"Their frontline is top, top level with the quality and pace they have. They have a really quality side - it's going to be a great challenge - but it's going to be really difficult for them too.

"The progression has been great [with] the way we have responded from the first game. There have been big changes in the squad - the players that have come in have settled really well."

Bournemouth, meanwhile, missed the chance to close the gap to the top four after they were held to a goalless draw by Crystal Palace the day after Christmas.

The Cherries dominated proceedings at the Vitality Stadium, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 1.47 from their 18 shots, compared to Palace’s 0.45 from their 10 attempts.

Though Bournemouth’s tally of 29 points after 19 games is their best-ever top-flight return at this stage of a season, head coach Andoni Iraola felt it was an opportunity missed.

"Once you win away, it probably looks better than the point at home. Once you've beaten United and you look at the four games, everyone would have taken them," Iraola said.

"Now we need to prepare again against Fulham and it's going to be a nice game but difficult. I think we have to value the point.

"It's not what we wanted at the beginning. I think we did half of the job: we defended well, didn't concede, kept the clean sheet, but we missed a bit of the final touch at the end."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Fulham – Harry Wilson

While Fulham have shown their quality on the pitch this season, they have also highlighted their excellence in reserve, none more so than Wilson.

All four of his Premier League goals this season have been as a substitute. It’s also the joint-most Premier League goals a Fulham player has scored from the bench in a single campaign, level with Collins John in 2005-06.

Bournemouth – Antoine Semenyo

With Justin Kluivert suspended for Sunday’s clash after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season, Semenyo will be key for the Cherries in the forward areas.

The Ghanaian has scored five goals in the Premier League this season, with his six goal involvements in the top-flight only bettered by the absent Kluivert (eight) for the Cherries.

MATCH PREDICTION: FULHAM WIN

Fulham have won their final league game in the last two calendar years, beating Southampton 2-1 in 2022 and Arsenal by the same score in 2023. Only between 1911 and 1914 (four) have they won their final league game in more consecutive years.

They are also unbeaten in their last six Premier League games (W2 D4), last having a longer run without defeat in the division between August and October 2010 (seven – W1 D6).

The Cottagers also beat Bournemouth 3-1 in the last league meeting between the sides in February – only once have they won consecutive league games against the Cherries, doing the double over them in the 1931-32 Third Division South.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, have won each of their last three Premier League away games, beating Manchester United 3-0 last time out. Only once have they won four in a row on the road in the top-flight, doing so in December last year.

The Cherries are unbeaten in their last six Premier League games (W4 D2), last having a longer run without defeat in the division between November and December 2023 (seven – W6 D1).

Bournemouth have, however, conceded 87 goals in their 41 Premier League away games against London sides, an average of 2.1 per game. Of all the teams to have played 20+ such games in the competition, only Norwich City (2.3) and Wigan Athletic (2.2) have a higher goals conceded per game average than the Cherries.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Fulham – 40.5%

Draw – 25.5%

Bournemouth – 34%