Fulham predictions: Difficult campaign in store for Cottagers
- Fulham won just two of their final nine games last term
- Joao Palhinha could be a massive miss for Cottagers
- Recommended bet: Fulham to be relegated
Fulham have achieved mid-table finishes in each of their two top-flight seasons since gaining promotion back to the Premier League, but expectations are tempered going into the new campaign.
Key player losses and a lack of reinforcements coming in suggest it could be a tougher season for Marco Silva's men, who could be drawn into the relegation scrap.
Last season
The big dilemma for Fulham in the 2023-24 season was adjusting to life without key striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who departed for Al-Hilal.
And while it was not plain sailing by any means, with the club dropping as low as 16th in the standings prior to Everton's points deduction, a particularly poor bottom three meant they were never really in danger of going down.
Manager
Former Watford and Everton boss Marco Silva is no stranger to the difficulties of managing in the Premier League and he has been in the Fulham hotseat since 2021.
He has performed well by steering the Cottagers to the Championship title and then keeping them in the Premier League two seasons running but this could be his most testing campaign in charge yet.
Silva loves his team to play with width and purpose but his options look a little more limited this season.
Transfers
It has been all about outgoings when it comes to the transfer market for Fulham this summer.
Losing industrious midfielder Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich for £42million was a massive blow given how they struggled in his absence last term, while Tosin Adarabioyo and Bobby Decordova-Reid have also both left on frees.
They invested £27million of the money made from Palhinha in Emile Smith Rowe — a smart buy from Arsenal — while Ryan Sessegnon has rejoined the club on a free from Tottenham and Villarreal defender Jorge Cuenca has also been brought in.
Strengths and weaknesses
Finding a Mitrovic replacement was never going to be easy and, while he may not yet be at the same level, striker Rodrigo Muniz will be crucial for Fulham this term.
The Brazilian scored nine goals in Fulham's last 15 matches last season and if he can replicate that form over the course of a whole campaign, it could be a better season than expected for the Cottagers.
But the glaring weakness is the team's squad depth.
Injuries to the likes of Muniz or summer signing Smith Rowe could be detrimental and Silva does not have much room for experimentation with his squad at Craven Cottage this term.
Their return of 55 goals could also have been better last season and winger Willian will have turned 36 when the action finally gets under way.
Best outright bet
Overall there are more weaknesses than strengths to this Fulham team and their poor form at the end of last season is cause for concern.
Beyond Muniz, it is hard to see where the goals are going to come from and it remains to be seen how Smith Rowe will handle the pressure of going from a fringe player to a key starter.
Tosin is also a loss at the back and Fulham look set to be a lot closer to the drop zone than the European places.
Newly-promoted clubs Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton all have their faults and could well go straight back down but a strong performance from just one side opens the door to more teams being dragged into the relegation dogfight.
Fulham could be one of them and they are a tempting price to be relegated to the Championship.
