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            <p><em>In this final article of our pre-season mini-series focusing on the promoted teams' FPL options, <a href="https://twitter.com/FPLStag">FPL Stag</a> takes a look at off looking 19/20 Championship Play-off Winners, Fulham. </em></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/promoted-teams-2%E2%80%A6-21-leeds-united/">Promoted Teams 2020/21: Leeds United</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/promoted-sides-2020-21-west-brom/">Promoted Teams 2020/21: West Bromwich Albion</a></li>
</ul>
<p>When Watford sealed Fulham’s relegation from the Premier League on April 2nd 2019, the Cottagers’ season had been such a mess that you would have been forgiven for questioning their chances of an instant return to the top flight. They had been relegated with five games left to play and though Huddersfield’s fate had been sealed before Fulham’s, the Terriers could console themselves with the knowledge that the London side’s defence was even worse than theirs. Under three different managers, Fulham conspired to concede on 81 occasions that season - that’s just eight less than the Derby County ‘07/08 side which picked up 11 points all season. That Fulham side also added the phrase “doing a Fulham” to the football lexicon - this was the act of spending huge sums on many new players to build a team for the Premier League yet still finishing in the bottom three.</p>
<p>To the credit of Scott Parker, who was the man on the touchline for that Watford game, he has presided over an impressive recovery in the club’s fortunes and much more measured approach to transfers in reaction to promotion. The club have consolidated their promotion squad by making loans permanent (Reed, Lemina, Knockaert) and adding squad depth (Robinson). If anything, you could argue that Fulham haven’t been aggressive enough in their transfers however, failing to build on a squad which only won promotion via the play-offs.</p>
<h2><b>Opening fixtures</b></h2>
<p>ARS || lee || AVL || wol || shu || CRY</p>
<p>The Gameweek 1 clash with Arsenal is Fulham’s only meeting with a member of the traditional top six up to Gameweek 10, giving the Cottagers a good platform to build momentum for what is expected to be a season-long battle for survival. It is also a good excuse to consider taking a punt on one of Parker’s men and there are a surprising number of options worth consideration from an FPL perspective.</p>
<h2><b>Play style and FPL prospects</b></h2>
<p>Scott Parker’s Fulham lined out in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation last season where maintaining possession was the order of the day. No side completed more passes in the Championship last season whilst table-toppers Leeds United were the only side to have a higher average possession (58.3%). Unlike Leeds, whose possession based style saw a healthy amount of counter attacks and good chance creation, Fulham struggled, placing 5th for shots and (more damningly) equal 11th for shots in the box. Six sides found the net more than the Cottagers. Parker’s Fulham certainly wouldn’t put the boot into their opponents, recording 15 wins by a one goal margin (23 total). Given how much harder it will be for the promoted side to dominate possession in the top flight, Fulham’s<a href="https://eflanalysis.com/analysis/where-fulham-need-to-strengthen-for-the-2020-21-season-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics"> reluctance to counter attack and propensity for ponderously passing laterally</a> rather than penetrating an opponent’s defence efficiently will have to change if they are to mount a credible survival fight. A solution would be to add more long passes to their game, a skill which no Cottager can do like centre-back <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/news/1749738">Michael Hector (4.5), who averaged six successful long passes per 90 </a>last term, resulting in two assists.</p>
<p>Looking at this logically, it wouldn’t surprise me if Fulham’s Premier League line-up looks more like a defensive 4-3-3 (a.k.a 4-5-1) or a 4-1-4-1 this season. This was sometimes how they looked in Project Restart too. A distinct lack of quality wingers or a viable strike partner for Aleksandar Mitrovic only strengthens the argument for this.</p>
<p>Should Fulham struggle with holding the ball and progressing upfield as predicted, then first choice shot-stopper <strong>Marek Rodak (£4.5m)</strong> can expect to be even busier than he already was last term. Of Championship goalkeepers with material game time, Rodak ranked 4th for saves per match (2.9) (note how close this is to three!) and he had the top save percentage (77%) even though only five sides conceded less shots per game than Fulham. Of course, such numbers translated well on expected metrics, with Rodak conceding just 33 times from an xGA of 40.</p>
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