Fulham v Palace

Craven Cottage, Sunday 3.00pm

Cameron Jerome (Photo: Andy Roberts)

Story so far

Stoke handed out a 4-1 thrashing of Fulham last weekend, which ensured the London club will be playing Championship football next season. In their last game of the season Fulham fans will watch their last Premier League game for at least a year against Crystal Palace.

Felix Magath will ensure his side produce a much-improved display against Palace, who were fighting for survival not long ago, and give their fans something to cheer about.

Since arriving on loan from Aston Villa, Darren Bent has largely been demoted to the Fulham bench. Felix Magath decided to give Bent a full 90 minutes against Stoke and he was one of only three players to take a shot at goal with two shots. Kieran Richardson also contributed two shots and has been one of Fulham’s most attacking players this season providing more assists than any other player (5).

Steve Sidwell could be Fulham’s player of the season with EA SPORTS PLAYER Performance Index showing he has made the most defensive contributions (tackles won, blocks, clearances and interceptions) for Fulham (309) and won the most tackles (118). As well as being strong defensively he is also the clubs top scorer with seven goals and is 15/4 to score at anytime with 888sport.com.

The Fulham defence had a busy 90 minutes against Stoke conceding four goals. Johonny Heitinga made the most defensive contributions (13) and Dan Burn made a team high of seven tackles.

Crystal Palace have certainly played their part in the title race this season. Palace have held some of the best teams in the league at home, beating Chelsea and producing one of the best comebacks in Premier League history against Liverpool.

At 3-0 down with 11 minutes to go against Liverpool, Crystal Palace shocked a Liverpool side who were pushing for a fourth. A Damien Delaney strike and a brace from Dwight Gayle ensured Brendan Rogers’ side left with only a point instead of the three they desperately wanted.

For much of the season Jason Puncheon has been Palace’s main goal threat but it was Dwight Gayle who provided the killer touch against Liverpool. The young Englishman was introduced to the game with 25 minutes left with his side 3-0 down.

His introduction turned the game on it’s head and he took the most shots (3) for his team and netted with two of the them to draw his side level. With five goals this season only Puncheon has scored more (7). Gayle is 2/1 to score at anytime with 888sport.com.

Yannick Bolasie showed strong stats throughout the game. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that the midfielder made a team high of ten attacking contributions (shots on target, assists, crosses and dribbles). With eight dribbles and one assist he was crucial to the Palace comeback. Fellow midfielder Joe Ledley was also pulling the strings in midfield making 30 passes, 12 more than second placed Jedinak. With three tackles he broke up Liverpool’s play and kept possession.

Team news

Eagles striker Cameron Jerome is expected to have recovered from illness to play his last game for the club before his loan ends.

Dwight Gayle, who scored twice in the amazing comeback against Liverpool in midweek, will probably take the subs' role again.

Fulham's record signing Kostas Mitroglou is in line to play after almost two months out with a persistent knee problem. Damien Duff is still sidelined with a long-term knee problem.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"This is a smashing club with fantastic support and potential, but it's a way behind what it should be. If you look at the training ground, if you look at the stadium, if you look at everything behind the scenes, the infrastructure, it needs an upgrade.

"It was the same situation when I was at Stoke. I had a magnificent chairman in Peter Coates, who backed me and allowed me to build a club over seven or eight years, and that's what you want. You want to do your job, you get paid to do your job, and that's what I want to do."

Felix Magath

"The reality is that we have been relegated, but my commitment and desire to Fulham remains.

"In the short space of time that I have spent here, I have been very impressed with so many aspects of our football club, and with this in mind my one priority is to give Premier League football back to you.

"During the summer months there most certainly will be many changes within the club. We obviously need to improve and redefine our playing staff. We have in our academy team, talented, young and hungry players.

"I have experienced on many occasions, through working and developing youth team players, that they have the possibility to become top professionals, I name for example Philipp Lahm from Bayern Munich. Bearing this in mind and making additions to our squad, I feel very optimistic for the future."

Yannick Bolasie

"Football is a strange game. At the start of last season we were in the bottom three of the Championship but ended up getting promoted.

"I think it was doom and gloom here when Fulham beat us 4-1 in October. Everyone thought it was going to be a long season so it’s funny how things turn out. They will have pride to play for and they will want to show they can bounce back straight next season.

"Everyone knows the Championship is tough. It’s a strange league. As for us, we’ll be going into the game confident and looking to end the season on a positive note."

Fulham - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
19th	37	9	4	24	31

Full league table

Fulham - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
8	3	1	4	9	18

Full form table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
21/10/2013	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 4	Fulham
01/01/2005	League	Fulham	3 - 1	Crystal Palace
04/10/2004	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 0	Fulham
17/03/2001	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 2	Fulham
18/10/2000	League	Fulham	3 - 1	Crystal Palace

All time results

Last meeting

Palace 1-4 Fulham

Monday October 21 2013

Palace: Speroni, Moxey, Mariappa, Ward, Delaney, O'Keefe, Jedinak, Campana (Thomas, 45), Gayle (Phillips, 69), Puncheon (Chamakh, 56), Bolasie

Subs not used: Dikgacoi, Price, Gabbidon, Kebe

Goals: Mariappa (7)

Fulham: Stekelenburg, Richardson, Hangeland (Amorebieta, 45), Senderos, Riether, Sidwell, Parker, Ruiz, Kasami, Bent (Duff, 77), Berbatov (Rodallega, 89)

Subs not used: Stockdale, Boateng, Zverotic, Karagounis

Goals: Kasami (19), Sidwell (45), Berbatov (50), Senderos (55)

Bookings: Richardson