FA Cup: Sunderland Out to Shock Fulham at Craven Cottage

Fulham vs Sunderland

Sunderland’s FA Cup adventure continues at Craven Cottage, where they’ll take on Fulham on Saturday night.

The fourth round tie pits together two squads that have gone in different directions this past year, with Fulham punching above their weight in their return to the top-flight, while Sunderland are a former Premier League side that’s stuck in the Championship.

But lately, Sunderland are doing much better since they’ve only lost one in their last five, while Fulham are on a two-game losing streak.

Despite their skid, the pre-match SBOTOP betting odds favour the Cottagers since they’re the better team on paper, but they cannot afford to take on the Black Cats lightly since they’ve been successful in their most recent visits.

Talking Points

Fulham sweating on Aleksandar Mitrovic’s fitness

After three straight wins to kick off the year, Fulham have lost back-to-back games against Tottenham and Fulham, and they’re facing the prospect of losing their top striker.

Aleksandar Mitrovic hurt his ankle – the same one that was injured before the World Cup – after he was caught by a late tackle from Tottenham’s Eric Dier on Tuesday.

Needless to say, Marco Silva and co. are hoping that Mitrovic’s injury is not that serious and that he’ll be back on the pitch soon.

Fulham cannot afford to have Mitrovic sidelined since he has played a key role in their surprise chase for a European spot this term. The Serbian hitman has plundered 11 goals in 17 games played thus far.

If Mitrovic is not available on Saturday, then Fulham will need production from the likes of Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Joao Palhinha, Andreas Pereira, and Willian.

De Cordova-Reid is the team’s second-leading scorer with four goals, while Palhinha has three and Pereira and Willian have two each.

Carlos Vinicius could start in Mitrovic’s place at the No. 9 this weekend. The 27-year-old has played sporadically this term, so this is his chance to vie for more minutes.

Amad Diallo finding his form in Sunderland

Amad Diallo continues to shine on loan with Sunderland, which has Manchester United supporters excited. The young Ivorian has netted seven goals in 22 outings for the club, and he was even named Championship Player of the Month for December 2022.

He joined Manchester United from Atlanta in January 2021, and former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave him early opportunities. He has since moved around, playing for Rangers last season – where he struggled – before joining Sunderland this summer. 

Manchester United do have a recall clause for Amad, and they can trigger it given their lack of depth up front. However, the expectation is that he will stay with the Black Cats for now before returning to Old Trafford next season.

And if Sunderland are going to be successful, Amad needs to be on target. He’ll get to team up with fellow top scorers Ross Stewart (11 goals, three assists) and Jack Clarke (four goals, seven assists) up front.

History

Fulham and Sunderland will meet for the first time in the FA Cup since the fourth round in 2014-15, when the Black Cats notched a 3-1 win against the Cottagers in a replay.

The Black Cats have won three of their last four visits to Craven Cottage across all competitions. However, they lost their last game against Fulham in April 2018, a 2-1 result in the Championship.

The Cottagers have been eliminated from seven of their last eight FA Cup fourth round ties, and their only win during that stretch was a 4-1 home victory against Hull City back in 2016-17.

Sunderland have yet to reach the fifth round when playing outside the Premier League since 2003-04, and their manager Tony Mowbray hasn’t had success when facing Premier League sides in five previous FA Cup ties across stints at West Brom, Middlesbrough, and Blackburn.

Betting Tip

The FA Cup 2023 odds have Fulham as the likely winners in the fourth round, as they are installed at 1.46, while Sunderland are priced at 5.40, and chances for a draw are at 4.30 in the 1X2 market.

Marco Silva might rotate his squad, but the fact that they’re competitive in the Premier League already says a lot about their overall quality, and they should have no problem progressing to the quarter-finals.

As for alternatives, you may want to go for either Over 2.50 @ 2.08 or Total Goal 2-3 @ 1.97 since we will see goals and FA Cup 2023 highlights from both sides.

 

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