Fulham look great value to go up – just as we called back in August
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If there was ever a perfect time to find some form and gather momentum, then this would be it. With just 10 games left to play in the Championship, Fulham look excellent value to make the play-offs – and if they do that, we’d fancy them to go all the way and return to the Premier League.
Before a ball was kicked in this campaign, the Cottagers were 11/1 shots for promotion. Within a week those odds had been slashed to 7s, and they’re now just 11/4.
That’s because they currently sit in seventh-place in the division, two points behind Sheffield Wednesday in sixth.
But Slavisia Jokanovic’s men have a game in hand over the Owls, meaning they could climb into the top six this week for the first time since mid-September.
That would stand them in good stead for one final push between now and May.
What’s even more impressive is that Fulham have been taking points from the big boys in the division, and the fixture list has been kind to them as they will face only three sides currently in the top eight in their remaining 10 games this season.
In fact, their record against the current top five in the division is certainly one to be admired.
They’ve taken 14 points from a possible 27 against the leading quintet in the Championship – that includes 5-0 drubbings of both Huddersfield Town and Reading, and a double over league leaders Newcastle United.
Only Brighton have lost fewer games than the Cottagers this season, while they’d be sitting second in the table behind only Huddersfield if the season began at the turn of the year.
A minor blip between early September and late October saw the west London outfit slide down to 14th in the table. But since then, Jokanovic’s side have been one of the best teams in the league on paper.
Bear in mind that this has all been achieved without two of last season’s key players.
Between them, Moussa Dembele and Ross McCormack netted a staggering 36 of Fulham’s 66 league goals and were without any doubt one of the deadliest duos in the division. The former has since moved to Celtic, while the latter signed for Aston Villa but is now on-loan at Championship strugglers Nottingham Forest.
Plenty of Fulham’s current crop have stepped up to the plate though, with eight players registering four or more goals this season (compared to just four last time out).
With that in mind, the Cottagers would certainly head into next season confident of lifting the Championship trophy – were they to miss out on promotion this time around.
But we’re not going to go and put a dampener on proceedings.
The play-offs are certainly a realistic goal for this side this season. Once there, anything is possible. But the way things are going at Craven Cottage, not many will be backing against them returning to the top-flight.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
