| taken from: zimbio.com |
Stoke's only new injury concern is Andy Wilkinson, who had to be substituted at West Ham. That could be especially troubling as the only other left back, Marc Wilson is already on the treatment table. The potential replacement, Ryan Shotton is more commonly used as a right midfielder and might have a bit of problem adapting. Look out for Damien Duff to test him throughout the night and it will be especially difficult for him as Etherington sometimes does not track back. Fulham's Reither also like to advance forward and Shotton might be overwhelmed. One thing that might work in his favour is that Duff likes to cut inside and Shotton's favoured right foot might actually be an advantage on that left flank. Stoke's home form will give their home fans a lot of optimism though. As mentioned before, they are yet to be beaten at home and it will be very interesting to see whether Fulham, the second highest scorers the league, can even break through their defensive solidity.
Fulham will be missing five of their first team players today. Ruiz and Kacaniklic are the two important ones nursing injuries. They are two of the most creative sparks in the Fulham team and their presence will be deeply missed, especially Ruiz who had been in red hot form. It will be interesting to see whether Berbatov does as well as he had this season without these two as the other players might not be on the same wavelength as him and unable to react quick enough to his clever passes. He might cut out a very frustrated figure tonight. Hangeland will also be suspended after his red card and Senderous is expected to take his place. Fulham has been the second highest placed team in terms of ariel duels won, with the other being Stoke of course, and the absence of Hangeland might buck that trend. Despite Senderous being just as tall, he is sometimes soft in his tackles and is not as physically imposing. Hangeland will be a big miss in the center of the defence especially against Peter Crouch and Jon Walters and I expect them to out muscle Fulham the whole night. The one good news for Fulham is that Chris Baird is ready to start again, relegating Karagounis to the bench. Karagounis showed decent ability on the ball against Sunderland but it was his under hit pass to Hangeland that caused Hangeland to slide in and get his red card. Such mistakes are disastrous and it will be a comfort for Fulham's fans to see the more assured presence of Baird back in the lineup.
Predictions:
I expect Stoke to finally break Fulham's scoring streak and ensure that Fulham lose their first two in a row this season so place a bet on total Fulham goals under 0.5 at 13/8 and Stoke to win with a clean sheet at 13/5. Crouch to score is at a pathetic 5/4 so I would not fancy taking that on. Instead, I fancy taking the goal scorer-scorecast option, which provides a return of 40/1 if Crouch scores and Stoke wins 2-0.
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