Match Preview: Fulham v Sunderland - everything you need to know ahead of kick-off!

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Saturday 28th January 2023

(PL) Fulham v Sunderland (CHA)

FA Cup 4th Round

Craven Cottage

Kick-Off: 15:00

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Tickets & Match Coverage

Tickets: Tickets available via www.safc.com.

TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is not available.

Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)

Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.sbnation.com!

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The build-up...

Speak to five different people about today’s game and you may well get five different views on the outlook of our fourth round tie at Fulham. How bothered are you if we proceed to the fifth round? Do you think it could be a distraction or do fancy a cup run?

How Tony Mowbray views this in terms of his list of priorities, will be clear when we see the starting XI. Against Shrewsbury Town in the last round the manager rang the changes, but was that because he thought that side with selected changes would still brush Shrewsbury aside? All will become clear.

Bizarrely, the last time we made it to the fifth round of the competition was back in 2015 when we won 3-1 at Craven Cottage in a replay with thanks to goals from Ricky Alvarez and Jordi Gomez.

Before our defeat in 2018 at the Cottage, we had a good run there, winning in three consecutive games there in all competitions. Today will be a tougher proposition, with Fulham impressing in the Premier League, but if there is any romance left in this competition, it’s our 50th anniversary since our win over Leeds and we fancy a cup run... just saying.

Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images

Fulham have spent the last five years alternating between the Premier League and the Championship where they have earnt the tag of being a “yo-yo” club. However, this pattern appears to have been finally broken this time around by their fourth manager in that time, Marco Silva.

Silva won the Championship at a canter last season and the good form has continued into this season where they now find themselves sitting 7th in the table with half of the season already complete.

They have suffered a wobble in recent weeks with two consecutive defeats via the only goal of the game that came at home to Spurs and when they visited our friends up the road. With their relative safety in collecting 31 points at this early stage, Fulham and Marco Silva might just be up for a trip to Wembley this term.

Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images

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The betting...

The bookies fancy a home win this afternoon with odds of 4/9 for Fulham to progress to the fifth round, with the Lads priced at 11/2 to take maximum points and it is 16/5 to go to a replay.

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Head to head... at Craven Cottage

(All competitions)

• Sunderland wins: 13
• Draws: 6
• Fulham wins: 12
• Sunderland goals: 46
• Fulham goals: 41

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Last time we met... at Craven Cottage

Saturday 27th April 2018

Championship

Fulham 2-1 Sunderland

[Piazon 45’, Mitrovic 76 - Asoro 28’]

Sunderland: Steele, Jones (Matthews), Kone, O’Shea, Wilson, Robson (Maja), McNair, Honeyman, Ejaria (McManaman), Asoro, Fletcher Substitutes not used: Camp, Clarke-Salter, Lua-Lua, Mumba

Fulham: Bettinelli, Fredericks, Targett (Kamara), McDonald, Odoi, Ream, Piazon (Fonte), Cairney (Kalas), Mitrovic, Johansen, Sessegnon Substitutes not used: Button, Christie, De La Torre, Norwood

Attendance: 21,849

Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

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Played for both...

Andy Melville

Melville began his career with Swansea City where he spent his first four years ahead of a move to Oxford United in the summer of 1990 for £275,000. It would be three years before Terry Butcher made a move to sign the Welsh international for an initial fee of £500,000 and also included Anton Rogan in exchange.

Melville would spend a successful six years on Wearside making over 200 appearances. A classy defender on his day, his final season would see him miss only two League games as Sunderland won the second tier with 105 points in 1999.

Spells at Fulham, West Ham United and Nottingham Forest followed Sunderland before retirement in 2005.

Photo by Steve Mitchell/EMPICS via Getty Images

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