Two sides near the bottom of the form table do battle at Craven Cottage on Tuesday night for a chance to bolster their position in the Premier League table.

Fulham

A goalless draw at Bolton on Saturday in front of a handful of their own supporters made it two clean sheets in a row for Fulham. The London side don’t travel well so may be pleased with the point. Their success in recent seasons has come down to their form at Craven Cottage. This is a game they will be expecting 3 points from regardless of their poor run of form that included a somewhat fortunate victory over Portsmouth in a midweek game. A victory could see them climb to 9th, but qualifying for next season’s Europa League isn’t going to happen for them now. They’ve had a few games recently in which you would have stuck Clint Dempsey in your fantasy team. This is another one with Burnley being weak down the spine of their team. With Bobby Zamora still without a goal following his shoulder injury, it’s hard to see where the goals are going to come from. Jonathan Greening scored their last Premier League goal which says something. Zamora scored when these two played out a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor earlier this season. Damien Duff has been quiet for a while, and Fulham’s results have shown recently. With their top players not scoring they are not picking up the results. 1 win in their last 8 league games.

Last 5 games
WLLWD

Injuries/Suspensions
Andy Johnson
Paul Konchesky
Clint Dempsey
John Pantsil
Simon Davies

Burnley

I found it a surprise Burnley beat West Ham on Saturday. And looking at the highlights they were fortunate too. But now Brian Laws has his first win as Burnley manager he may believe he can move this team on. I doubt him myself. A trip down south to London will be a tough ask for his team. Fulham have a solid home record compared to Burnley’s futile performances on the road. That should provide us with a home victory here. But if Burnley can, for a change keep a solid defence there’s few attacking Fulham players who pose a threat. The Cottagers are lacking form too, but there’s less pressure on them. Burnley will know their position outside of the bottom three won’t last long if they don’t pick up a few successive results. They have a few tougher away days coming up after this one, but it’s a home game with Portsmouth at the end of the month they should be looking at for 3 points. A point here would be a bonus

Last 5 games
LLLLW

Injuries/Suspensions
Gary Caldwell
Graham Alexander
Jay Rodriguez

With Fulham’s recent form and a lack of goalscorers these odds don’t attract me. Although I do expect them to come away with 3 points against a Burnley side who are woeful on their travels.

Fulham to win 8/11

Draw 11/4

Burnley to win 9/2