Rowdie: Mathematical football prediction and betting tips

Fulham vs Leeds United (1-2) Match Summary: Survival chances decreasing for the Cottagers

Coming into the game, [team 11] collected 7 points from their last 5 games, with the last one coming as a defeat. The survival chances were increasing as results were getting better, and also [team 20]’s poor form increased Fulham’s chances. Fulham already had played a game more than Newcastle, and after the Leeds game, they would have played two games more than [coach 455377]’s side, who are two points ahead of Fulham.

With this scenario, it was almost a must-win for Fulham against a [team 71] side, who were winless in their last 3 [league 8] games.

Team News

[coach 153] made three changes as [player 581067] came in for Tete at left-back. As a result, Aina shifted to the right side of the defence. The midfield wasn’t changed as [player 96017], Reed, and Anguissa kept their places after the defeat to [team 9]. In the frontline, Loftus-Cheek was replaced by [player 5249] as Fulham looked to play with a natural striker instead of a false nine.

[coach 1533119]’s side was unchanged after their goalless draw against [team 18] at Ellan Road. After missing out on his England call-up, Bamford had a chance to respond to [coach 474589]’s decision to leave him out. In from Brazilian winger, [player 160258] started again on the wings as he looked to continue his phenomenal season.

First-Half

Whenever Leeds are involved, the match is expected to be an end to end one with loads of chances. Along with that, high-intensity pressing is a massive part of the game.

The game had an expected start to it, with Leeds running everywhere and making penetrative movements in behind Fulham’s backline. Fulham didn’t have the greatest to the game as they struggled to deal with Leeds’s relentless pressing. The Cottagers did grow into the game and had a few counter-attacking opportunities. Yet, Leeds’s excellent trackback runs prevented Fulham from scoring.

Inside the opening 10 minutes, Leeds had the ball in the back of the net. [player 4527]’s inswinging delivery was brilliantly headed goalwards by [player 3158]. However, after a brief VAR check, the goal chocked off for offside against Roberts.

Fulham had their chances to get on the scoresheet, but the final pass or the finish were lousy. Leeds were looking sharper in there passing and movements, and it seemed like a goal was coming. Fulham missed a good chance just before Leeds went to score the game’s opening goal. It was Bamford’s excellent movement across the [player 5241] whose reaction was late. [player 262274] was the one who played the pacy cutback, which was finished smoothly by Bamford for his 14th goal of the season.

Leeds were dominating in the midfield area and were winning the majority of the second balls as well. Fulham were getting the ball to their wide players, but the closing down from the away side was forcing the Fulham winger backwards. Fulham did miss a couple of big chances. Meslier was outstanding in goal; he made a couple of big saves to deny [player 96804] and Maja.

A fine spell of pressure resulted in a Fulham corner. [player 5321] delivered the ball, which was not defended well by Leeds. [player 25284] scored, and Fulham were back against the run of play.

The first half ended with Leeds being on the front foot. However, it was Fulham who had arguably the better chances to score. The Cottagers had 4 shots on target out of 5 shots in total but had just a single goal. Interestingly, Fulham took 3 out of those 5 shots from inside the box. If not for Meslier’s brilliance in goal, Fulham could have easily scored a couple before the interval.

Second-Half

[player 1366] replaced Maja as Fulham wanted a focal point to quickly bypass Leeds’s high press and quickly get into the opponent territory. This change did have an impact as Fulham looked the better side for a reasonable amount of time. They created some good chances, but once again, it was a lack of ruthlessness in the final third.

Fulham then had an enormous chance to take the lead when Lookman had the chance to tap in a pacy delivery from the right-wing. The slightest of the touches could have done the job for his side. However, as it was, the youngster failed to connect with the ball and what followed was even more damaging. Just after Lookman’s miss, Leeds had the chance to counter-attack, something they master at given their quick players. A pacy transition was followed by Bamford’s slick pass through the defenders for Raphina, whose first touch allowed him to take control and toe-poke the ball into the net.

Fulham kept pushing as they could not afford to find themselves two points behind Newcastle with 2 more games played. [player 1953] came in for [player 1409] before [player 25400] came in for [player 1956] to provide more legs and thrust. The home side did have quite a few moments, but Leeds were dealing with it well as well as attacking with pace.

Fulham failed to take any chances and lost all the three points to Leeds side that deserved to win after a performance full of energy. Now, Fulham have to depend on [team 78] to beat Newcastle, [fixture 16943087] which would give Fulham hope as they face Bruce’s side on the last day of the season.

Fixture Details: [fixture 16943090]

Eye-Catching Performers

Illan Meslier

[player 432881] had another excellent performance as his saves were critical for Leeds’s win against Fulham. The 21-year-old made 5 saves, out of which 3 were from inside the box. He also recorded 3 punches as well as 2 high claims.

The French youngster has had an exceptional first season in the English top-flight. His distribution has also been impressive, and his shot-stopping speaks for itself. With the [league 1326] coming up, he is a serious contender to get into the French national squad. Maybe not the first choice due to the captain [player 1014] but if Meslier’s form continues, we might see him starting for France in the new future.

Patrick Bamford

[player 1175] was surprisingly left out of the recent national [team 18645] squad by Southgate. A response had to come, and it did as he scored the first one and then assisted the winning goal. As much as his attacking numbers, Bamford was fantastic from a defensive perspective which you have to be when you play under Bielsa.

The 27-year-old completed 1 interception, 1 tackle as well, as a notable 5 clearances against Fulham.

With Newcastle and Brighton playing a day later, Fulham had a huge chance to put some pressure but failed against the tireless Leeds.

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