Fresh from their Premier League triumph over London rivals Arsenal, Fulham welcome Championship outfit Rotherham United to Craven Cottage for an FA Cup third-round tie on Friday night.
While the Cottagers are hoping to better their quarter-final finish in last season’s FA Cup, the Millers are seeking to avoid a sixth consecutive third-round elimination.
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For the first time since February 2012, Fulham celebrated success over Arsenal when they came from behind to beat the Gunners 2-1 on home soil in the Premier League on New Year’s Eve.
Bukayo Saka bundled the ball home to give Arsenal an early lead, but the Cottagers restored parity on the half-hour mark through Raul Jimenez, before Bobby De-Cordova Reid netted what proved to be the match-winner midway through the second half to help the hosts end an 11-game winless run against the Gunners.
Victory over Arsenal also ended a three-match losing run in the top flight for Marco Silva‘s side, who remain 13th in the table but have climbed nine points clear of the relegation zone, while they are only four points adrift of 10th-placed Chelsea whom they face next week.
Fulham are sure to have one eye on next week’s EFL Cup semi-final first leg with Liverpool, but they must first shift their focus to the FA Cup as they endeavour to progress from the third round for the 13th time in the last 16 seasons.
Silva has won all five of his previous FA Cup third-round ties as a manager, including two with Fulham, who will fancy their chances of success again on Friday as they have come out on top in each of their last four meetings with Rotherham by an aggregate score of 10-3.
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After losing his first three games in charge of Rotherham, head coach Leam Richardson has since steered his new Millers side on a three-match unbeaten run in the Championship, with a slender 1-0 win over Middlesbrough followed by back-to-back score draws with Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers.
The South Yorkshire-based outfit came from behind twice to rescue a point at Ewood Park on New Year’s Day, with Tom Eaves restoring parity eight minutes from time with just his second goal of the campaign after Sean Morrison had previously found the net in the first half.
Only Coventry and Huddersfield Town (both 10) have drawn more Championship matches than Rotherham (nine) so far this season, and the Millers will need to turn those solitary points into three sooner rather than later if they wish to climb off the foot of the second-tier standings and close the seven-point gap to safety.
Rotherham now turn their attention to the FA Cup and must pull off an upset away against Premier League opposition if they wish to reach the fourth round for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign.
However, success on Friday will be a tall order for the Millers as they have failed to win any of their last 17 FA Cup away matches against top-flight opponents, while they have not won a competitive away game in any competition since beating Sheffield United 1-0 in the second tier back in November 2022.
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Fulham will be without Nigerian duo Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi, as well as Senegalese defender Fode Ballo-Toure, as they are all away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Tim Ream and Adama Traore are also unavailable as they continue to recover from respective calf and thigh injuries, although both players are hoping to return to action at some stage this month.
With one eye on next week’s EFL Cup semi-final clash at Liverpool, Silva is expected to rotate his side on Friday, with the likes of Marek Rodak, Issa Diop, Harrison Reed, Sasa Lukic and Rodrigo Muniz all pushing to start.
As for Rotherham, Lee Peltier, Tyler Blackett and Cameron Humphreys all remain sidelined with hamstring problems, while Grant Hall (hip), Fred Onyedinma (muscle), Andre Green (Achilles) and Shane Ferguson (hernia) are also nursing injuries.
Richardson is expected to stick with a five-man defence including centre-back trio Morrison, Hakeem Odoffin and Sebastian Revan, with Dexter Lembikisa and Cohen Bramall set to operate as wing-backs.
Jordan Hugill is Rotherham’s joint-top scorer this season with just three goals, and the target man will be looking to force his way back into he first XI ahead of either Eaves or Sam Nombe after beginning as a substitute last time out.
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Tete, Adarabioyo, Diop, Robinson; Lukic, Reed; Wilson, Pereira, Decordova-Reid; Muniz
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Lembikisa, Odoffin, Morrison, Revan, Bramall; Rathbone, Tiehi, Clucas; Hugill, Nombe
Fulham will be regarded as firm favourites to come out on top, even if Silva decides to make several changes to his lineup, although they must not underestimate Rotherham who will look to frustrate the Cottagers and make themselves difficult to break down.
Forcing a replay would be viewed as a positive for the Millers, but we believe that the hosts should have enough top-flight quality in their side to get the job done in front of the Craven Cottage faithful.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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