Neither Crystal Palace nor Fulham were willing to take many risks at Selhurst Park on Saturday, thus both sides will be satisfied with a 0-0 draw that keeps each of them in the top half of the Premier League table.
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The Eagles and Cottagers entered matchweek 6 in 9th and 10th places in the PL, respectively, now they sit 8th and 9th after Nottingham Forest were beaten by Manchester City.
Crystal Palace went closest to scoring in the first half, in the 42nd minute, when Eberechi Eze created a bit of space for himself 20 yards out from goal, only for his right-footed curler to strike the outside of the Bernd Leno’s left-hand post and ricochet clear of danger.
Willian had the best chance of the second half, in the 83rd minute, as Harrison Reed cut the ball back to the Brazilian, but his low shot was well within reach for Sam Johnstone to make the save and preserve the clean sheet.
Very little separates these sides, including distance
Eight miles apart in London, and only four goals apart over the first six games in the table. 2W-2D-2L for each side. Both rank in the bottom half for xG and xGA. In many ways, cruising to a mostly anonymous mid-table finish would be a wonderful outcome for Palace and Fulham.
Crystal Palace vs Fulham, final score: 0-0
Goalscorers: None
How to watch Crystal Palace vs Fulham live, stream link, time
Kickoff: 10am ET, Saturday (Sept. 23)
TV channel: Peacock Premium
Stream: Watch on Peacock Premium
From our friends at FotMob.com…
Lining 🆙#CRYFUL pic.twitter.com/yUwkS4D4aG
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) September 23, 2023
In the Palace corner 💪#CRYFUL | @shophumm
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) September 23, 2023
Jordan Ayew (dead leg) and Marc Guehi (undisclosed) could come back for Roy Hodgson but Michael Olise’s suffered a setback and joins Matheus Franca and Jefferson Lerma as key players out of the lineup. James Tomkins is unlikely to be available, either.
The numbers say Palace should be favored here, and not just because of home field measures. Palace is the much better shot-producer in open play, though it comes at the expense of allowing shots.
Odsonne Edouard has four goals and has shown himself a reasonable focus point for the attack, while Eberechi Eze’s 5/20 shot creating actions per 90 minutes is 15th in the Premier League, sandwiched between Bruno Fernandes and Martin Odegaard. Not bad.
Fulham has the worst expected goals against in the Premier League, having conceded 12.75 xGA this season, and its produced xG barely ranks better.
And the numbers are fairly consistent, including in the clean sheets against Everton and Luton Town. Shoutout to Bernd Leno.
The Cottagers won’t have Tosin Adarabioyo and Antonee Robinson, while Sasa Lukic could return to the fold.