Overview
Fulham ended a four-match losing streak in the Premier League with a comfortable 3-0 home win over bottom-placed Wolves in early November. However, they could not continue their success when they lost away to Everton before the international break.
The Cottagers are one of four teams yet to win away from home this season. The loss to Everton marked their fifth away defeat and sixth Premier League defeat, leaving Fulham 15th in the table, just one point above the relegation zone.
Although there have been some reports that Fulham's board are considering Marco Silva's future after his recent poor form, it is noteworthy that the Cottagers are serious about extending his contract.
Fulham will return to Craven Cottage at the weekend, where they have won 91% of their Premier League points this season (10/11) - the highest rate in the league. The team is also unbeaten in their last 10 home games against newly promoted sides (W5 D5), including three consecutive wins.
However, Fulham have lost their last two Premier League home games against Sunderland. The upcoming match will mark the first meeting between the two teams in the top flight since the Black Cats' 4-1 win in January 2014.
Sunderland have accumulated 19 points from 11 Premier League games this season (5 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses), their best tally since the 1999-1999 season (23 points). This is also the best finish by any newly promoted side since 2008-09, when Hull City picked up 20 points from their first 11 games.
The Black Cats extended their unbeaten streak in the tournament to 4 matches before the international break thanks to a 2-2 draw at home with leaders Arsenal.
Only Brighton (76%) have a higher second-half goalscoring rate than Sunderland (71% - 10/14) in the Premier League this season. In contrast, this weekend's opponent, Fulham, conceded 69% of the goals conceded after the first half (11/16) - the third most in the league.
Few people could have imagined Sunderland would be fourth in the rankings at the end of November, but Regis Le Bris's students are holding this position thanks to their stable record. Another win would see them tied the tally with second-placed Manchester City, before the Citizens face Newcastle a few hours later.
After beating Chelsea 2-1 in October, Sunderland are aiming for a back-to-back away win in London in the same season for the first time since March 2001.
Personnel situation
Fulham's Antonee Robinson is still sidelined with a knee injury. Sasa Lukic is also absent due to suspension after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season. Therefore, Alex Iwobi will likely take on the role of a deeper midfielder alongside Sander Berge.
In attack, Josh King and Emile Smith Rowe will compete for the No. 10 spot behind striker Raul Jimenez, who is still looking for his first home goal of the season.
As for Sunderland, Habib Diarra (shoulder injury) and Aji Alese (shoulder injury) are still sidelined. This match also took place too early with Dennis Cirkin (hand injury), Romaine Mundle (hamstring injury) and Leo Hjelde (achilles heel injury).
The star and captain Granit Xhaka is expected to continue playing in the central midfield position with Noah Sadiki. Simon Adingra and Chemsdine Talbi will compete for a starting spot against Bertrand Traore and Enzo Le Fee.
Expected lineup:
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon, Iwobi, Berge, Wilson, King, Kevin, Jimenez.
Sunderland: Roefs, Hume, Mukiele, Ballard, Geertruida, reinildo, Xhaka, Sadiki, Traore, Isidor, Le Fee.
The match between Fulham and Sunderland takes place at 22:00 on November 22 (Vietnam time).
