Fulham vs Burnley - as it happened: Cottagers earn first win
Fulham will hope to break their run of two defeats when they welcome Europa League hopefuls Burnley to Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon. Slavisa Jokanovic’s side will want Burnley to have one eye on their Europa League qualifier against Olympiakos on Thursday, and the Serb will be encouraged by the some aspects of the display in the 3-1 loss to Spurs at Wembley.
Sean Dyche’s side suffered a European hangover last Sunday when they entertained Watford at Turf Moor. James Tarkowski levelled for the hosts after Andre Gray’s opener, but second half goals from Troy Deeney and Will Hughes condemned Burnley to their first defeat of the season.
The Clarets were also made to work for their point at St Mary’s on the opening weekend of the season, and will be hoping to put an end to their current indifferent league campaign with a win here.
First up today Watford host Crystal Palace at Vicarage Road, with the Hornets looking to extend their winning start to the season after overcoming Brighton and Burnley in the first two weeks.
As for Palace they'll be looking to put Monday nights defeat to Liverpool behind them and focus on a game where three points are definitely up for grabs.
A win today would see Watford equal their best ever start to a Premier League season with three wins from three,
Head coach Javi Gracia spoke to the media aboutit: "It is always important to start well, but we have played only two games and they are only two important wins.
"We need to keep calm and know bad results will arrive in the future. We are going to play against a Palace side with two good strikers who play on the counter attack.
"You have to adapt to different things like we did in the other games we played."
Watford start the action hitting the ball long before winning it back in their own half, the ball finds it's way out to Pereyra on the left and he crosses the ball into the box but it's slightly off target going behind the oncoming strikers and out for a goal kick
Palace see more of the ball, Zaha gaining possession in mid-field to a chorus of boos from the Watford fans before Capoue brings him down for a free kick.
Palace take a quick free kick and work the ball forward on the left hand side, Benteke gets the ball and switches it out to Ward on the right, he gives it to Townsend who dinks it back into the box and Benteke dives forward and heads the ball just past the post
A yellow card for Zaha after he follows through on a challenge against Holebas, the game is developing into a physical contest as van Aanholt is brought down
Great save! Kabasele stops a promising Palace attack by dispossessing Zaha but makes a mistake by giving the ball to Townsend, Palace work the ball nicely on the edge of the box before moving wide on the right. Townsend whips the ball into the area and Benteke finds it with a header straight at Foster who parries it wide
Foster again makes a stunning save! McArthur this time finds his way through Watford's defence before receiving the ball in the middle of the box, he tries to guide it past Foster to the keeper's right but Foster puts out a strong hand to deny Palace the lead.
Chance! Watford in the ascendancy now the ball comes in from the right and Pereyra meets it on the volley but McArthur gets enough boot on it to put it out for a corner.
The corner is cleared but Watford come again, this time the ball is passed through the middle, Deeney leaves the ball and Pereyra hits it first time but Hennessey makes an easy save
The rain is pumping down as the game remains goalless, Palace seeing more of the ball but both sides are creating chances, Ward runs down the right on the overlap but Holebas holds him off and the ball goes out for a goal kick
Pereyra looks to break away into Palace's half but he's brought down by McArthur, Holebas takes the resulting free kick but his ball into the box sails over the heads of everyone and goes out for a goal kick.
Palace break through again, McArthur combines with Benteke to run past the centre halfs but Holebas covers from the right with a sliding tackle before McArthur gets his shot away
Yellow card for Janmaat, referee Anthony Taylor told him to calm down before he held on to Zaha, Doucoure now with the foul, challenging Schlupp for the ball in the air but arriving too late. Watford just seem to be losing a little composure as we approach half time
Lots of players hitting the deck today and it's not due to the rain, Milivojevic is brought down this time by Deeney as the Watford striker tried to win the ball. The free kick is played quickly and Watford win the ball back, Holebas comes bounding down the right wing and he wins a corner
The match will not be shown live on TV or online in the UK.
Highlights will be BBC One at 10:30pm.
It’s a big game for…
Matt Lowton: The Burnley right-back had one of his poorest performances in Burnley shirt against Watford last weekend. The 29-year-old struggled to deliver quality crosses on a consistent basis while he made a fatal error in the lead up to the Hornets’ third goal by gifting the ball to Will Hughes in a dangerous area. The challenge this weekend comes in the form of Ryan Sessegnon and Andre Schurrle, who will look to exploit the Englishman’s shaky confidence.
Matt Lowton needs to bounce back against Fulham (Getty)
Stat….
53: Burnley have gained 53% of their total points away from Turf Moor since the beginning of the 2017/18 season. That figure equates to 29 points out of a possible 55, which is a higher share than any other side.
Remember when…
The sides have not face each other in the Premier League since 2010, however their last encounter in competitive action was a five-goal thriller at the Cottage.
Player to watch…
Maxime Le Marchand : The 28-year-old Frenchman put in a commanding display at the heart of the Fulham back four at Wembley last weekend and helped partner Calum Chambers come through some shaky moments. Putting in a number of strong tackles and blocks throughout, the former Nice centre-back has filled in superbly for the injured Tim Ream and will need to be at his best again to keep out a physical Burnley forward line.
