Fulham will look to return to winning ways in the Championship when they host Preston North End at Craven Cottage in their Matchday 43 tie on Tuesday night with kickoff at 21:45.
Fulham failed to confirm their return to the Premier League last time out as they left empty-handed again in the Championship following a 2-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Derby County on Friday at away. Fabio Carvalho gave the Cottagers a lead in the first half, leaving them just 45 minutes away from top-flight football next season, but second half goal from Luke Plange and an own goal from Tosin Adarabioyo saw the Rams clinch all the three points.
Fulham have now suffered back-to-back defeats in the Championship as they were previously coming off a 3-1 defeat to Coventry and have lost three of their last five league matches. Nevertheless, Marco Silva’s side remain at the summit of the second-tier standings with 83 points, nine points above second-placed Bournemouth.
A victory in this match will still seal their place in the top-tier next season and thus they will look to shake of the slump and confirm their Premier League return with a win on Tuesday. When playing at home Fulham have not lost to Preston in the last four encounters and they have only suffered one defeat against the Lilywhites in their last 10 meetings, and should be confident of maintain that run on Tuesday.
Preston, meanwhile, head into the match off a 1-1 draw against fellow playoff chasers Millwall last week. Millwall’s Murray Wallace scored at both ends of the field in the closely contested tie at Deepdale.
Preston now sit at the middle of the table in the 13th spot on 58 points from 42 games, seven points off the sixth-placed Sheffield United. With four matches still remaining to go means the Lilywhites are still in the mix for a playoff spot, but it will take some effort.
Seven points from their last three matches shows that they are ready for a last-gasp push for the playoffs and will head into the match all guns blazing for the three points.
Fulham vs Preston head to head
Both sides have met in 11 encounters since 2000 with Fulham claiming five victories, while Preston have claimed two victories and there have been four draws.
- Preston 1-1 Fulham 27/11/21
- Fulham 2-0 Preston 29/02/20
- Preston 2-1 Fulham 10/12/19
- Preston 1-2 Fulham 10/03/18
- Fulham 2-2 Preston 14/10/17
Home
- Derby County 2-1 Fulham
- Fulham 1-3 Coventry
- Middlesbrough 0-1 Fulham
- QPR 0-2 Fulham
- West Brom 1-0 Fulham
Away
- Preston 1-1 Millwall
- Preston 2-1 QPR
- Preston 1-0 Blackpool
- Derby County 1-0 Preston
- Luton 4-0 Preston
Fulham team news
Fulham will be without Terence Kongolo due to injury.
Preston team news
Preston will be without Tom Barkhuizen, Isaiah Brown, Ryan Ledson and Alan Browne due to injuries, while Emil Riis is a doubt.
Prediction and odds
- Fulham win
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5
