Fulham will mark their return to the Premier League on Saturday against Crystal Palace. The Cottagers have worked hard in the offseason to sign top-flight calibre players to augment the talent already at the club.
Manager Slavisa Jokanovic has an assortment of experience and youth in his ranks. Despite flying high last season in the Championship and winning promotion through the playoffs, Jokanovic will be content with Fulham preserving their Premier League status this season. Safety is the first objective and the talent on hand should enable Fulham to do just that.
Roy Hodgson will be hoping Crystal Palace don’t get off to the same bad start they experienced last season. Under the management of Frank de Boer, Crystal Palace lost their first four matches of the season and failed to score a single goal. Hodgson replaced De Boer in mid-September and went on to lead Crystal Palace to an 11th place finish. The club had a great end to the Premier League season finishing undefeated in its last six games. Crystal Palace even handed Leicester City a 5-0 beat down during that run.
Fulham have spent heavily upon their return to the top-flight. Jean Michael-Seri, Aleksandar Mitrovic, and Alfie Mawson headline Fulham’s summer signings. Mitrovic may be the best of the lot as the striker spent the second half of last season on loan at the club. His 12 goals in 17 matches powered Fulham to the promotion playoffs.
Questions still remain around whether the striker can perform at the Premier League level, however. Fulham have also made three fantastic loan signings in the form of goalkeeper Sergio Rico, striker Luciano Vietto, and midfielder Andre Schurrle. On paper, Fulham look like a midtable side to say the least.
Despite the signing success, Fulham’s preseason didn’t go well. The team won just once in six matches with the only win coming against Crawley Town. The losses did come against the likes of Sampdoria, Lyon, and Fenerbahce.
Crystal Palace have been far more modest in their transfer dealings. Defensive midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate arrived from West Ham for £9.5 million. Once highly sought-after German midfielder Max Meyer has also arrived on a free transfer as he attempts to reignite his career. The club released a host of players over the summer including Yohan Cabaye and Lee Chung-Yong. Despite the players leaving, Crystal Palace went undefeated in preseason, but the Eagles did fail to play the same level of talent Fulham did.
Jokanovic will lead Fulham to victory on Saturday at Craven Cottage. Fulham will mark their return to the Premier League with a win as the Cottagers overpower an inferior Crystal Palace side.