Match Preview
Fulham at home to Cardiff City
Sky Bet Championship: Play-Off Semi-Final second leg
at Craven Cottage
Thursday 30th July 2020 KO: 19:45
Referee:
Paul Tierney (Lancashire)
Live on Sky Sports
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Fulham will be determined to build on their 2-0 triumph in Cardiff when when the two promotion hopefuls lock horns in the second leg at Craven Cottage on Thursday.
Goals from Josh Onomah and Neeskens Kebano ensured that Fulham came away from the Cardiff City Stadium with the upper hand in the tie on Monday.
In a repeat of their 2-0 victory over Cardiff in the regular season only a couple of weeks ago, Fulham once again produced a dominant performance against the Bluebirds as Scott Parker's men made the most of their journey to the Welsh capital.
Two moments of individual brilliance gave Parker's side a routine victory in the first leg, with Onomah's dazzling solo effort followed up by Kebano's stunning free kick in the dying minutes of the first leg.
The Cottagers had to make do without Golden Boot winner Aleksandar Mitrovic, who was forced to miss out with a minor hamstring problem, but Parker's side were full value for their first-leg triumph and have a point to prove after missing out on automatic promotion by a mere two points on the final day.
Fulham's comfortable victory at the Cardiff City Stadium means that the Cottagers have now strung together an eight-match unbeaten streak in the Championship, and Parker's men are now prepared to welcome Cardiff to a ground where they have picked up seven wins from their last nine.
In contrast, Cardiff are now fighting an uphill battle to keep their Premier League prospects alive, but Neil Harris has made it clear that the Bluebirds have another 90 minutes to turn the tie on its head at Craven Cottage.
Harris aimed a sly dig at Fulham following their celebrations after the first leg, claiming that "it looked like they had won the tie", as Cardiff's three-game winning streak came to a disappointing end on their own turf on Monday.
Fulham will certainly be regarded as the favourites to progress to Wembley, where either Brentford or Swansea City will be waiting depending on the outcome of their second-leg clash on Wednesday, but Cardiff nevertheless boast a terrific recent record on the road with six wins from their last eight outings away from home.
Despite this period of financial uncertainty in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the playoff final is known as the richest game in football and both Cardiff and Fulham will be fully aware of what is at stake when they step out onto the Craven Cottage turf in midweek.
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Fulham are unbeaten in their last six home games against Cardiff (W3 D3), including 2-0 victory as recently as July 10th.
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During the regular Championship season, Fulham made 588 sequences of 10+ passes from open play; 139 more than any other side in the division. In contrast, Cardiff City made just 88 – the fewest of any side.
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Cardiff City scored 28 set-piece goals during the 2019-20 Championship season; two more than any other side. In contrast, only Barnsley (12) score fewer such goals than Fulham (15).
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Fulham are unbeaten in their last eight games, winning six and drawing two whilst keeping five clean sheets during this run.
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Fulham’s Josh Onomah has been directly involved in five goals in nine games since the restart (3 goals, 2 assists), after just two in 23 league appearances in 2019-20 before the break (1 goal, 1 assist).
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Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored 14 goals in 20 Championship home games this season, netting three in his last two games at Craven Cottage.
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Cardiff have won six of their last eight games on the road (L2), with four of those victories coming by a two-goal margin or larger.
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Cardiff City had the oldest average starting XI during the regular Championship season, with an average age of 28 years and 143 days old.
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Lee Tomlin has had a hand in 18 Championship goals this season (8 goals, 10 assists); eight more than any other Cardiff City player.