Barclays Premier League

  • Venue: Craven Cottage
  • Date: Wednesday, 1 January

Lineup, Bookings (3) & Substitutions (5)

Fulham

  • 13 Stockdale
  • 27 Riether
  • 03 Riise
  • 07 Sidwell
  • 04 Senderos
  • 35 Amorebieta
  • 16 Duff
  • 28 Parker
  • 09 Berbatov Booked
  • 19 Taarabt (Bent - 69' )
  • 15 Richardson (Kacaniklic - 56' )

Substitutes

  • 08 Kasami
  • 11 Kacaniklic
  • 18 Hughes
  • 24 Dejagah
  • 39 Bent
  • 40 Bettinelli
  • 45 Dembele

West Ham United

  • 22 Jääskeläinen
  • 20 Demel
  • 03 McCartney
  • 16 Noble (Rat - 32' Booked )
  • 17 O'Brien
  • 18 Diarra
  • 10 Collison
  • 21 Diamé (Downing - 56' )
  • 11 Maiga (Cole - 69' )
  • 04 Nolan Dismissed
  • 14 Taylor

Substitutes

  • 07 Jarvis
  • 08 Rat
  • 13 Adrián
  • 23 Downing
  • 24 Cole
  • 26 Cole
  • 27 Potts
Ref: Mark Clattenburg
Att: 25,335

Match Stats

Shots

27 6

On target

11 3

Corners

9 2

Fouls

4 5

Live Text Commentary

70:33

Attempt saved. Darren Bent (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Dimitar Berbatov.

69:43

Foul by Damien Duff (Fulham).

69:43

Matthew Taylor (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

69:14 Booking

Booking Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

69:10

Foul by Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham).

69:10

Matthew Taylor (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

68:33 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, West Ham United. Carlton Cole replaces Modibo Maiga.

68:11 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Fulham. Darren Bent replaces Adel Taarabt.

67:37

Steve Sidwell (Fulham) wins a free kick on the left wing.

67:37

Foul by Alou Diarra (West Ham United).

65:24 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Fulham 2, West Ham United 1. Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Scott Parker.

65:22

Attempt missed. Scott Parker (Fulham) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Alexander Kacaniklic.

64:57

Attempt saved. Steve Sidwell (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Adel Taarabt.

63:20

Attempt missed. Scott Parker (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Assisted by Adel Taarabt following a corner.

62:54

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Razvan Rat.

62:51

Attempt blocked. John Arne Riise (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Scott Parker.

62:15 Booking

Booking Razvan Rat (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

61:43

Damien Duff (Fulham) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

61:43

Foul by Razvan Rat (West Ham United).

60:47

Attempt missed. Adel Taarabt (Fulham) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box misses to the left.

60:45

Attempt saved. Adel Taarabt (Fulham) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Fernando Amorebieta.

60:05

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Joey O'Brien.

60:02

Attempt blocked. Steve Sidwell (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Dimitar Berbatov.

59:00

Foul by Adel Taarabt (Fulham).

59:00

George McCartney (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

57:09

Attempt saved. Damien Duff (Fulham) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

55:52 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Fulham. Alexander Kacaniklic replaces Kieran Richardson.

55:48 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, West Ham United. Stewart Downing replaces Mohamed Diamé.

52:15

Attempt missed. Damien Duff (Fulham) left footed shot from the right side of the box is too high. Assisted by Sascha Riether following a corner.

51:56

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Guy Demel.

51:52

Attempt blocked. Adel Taarabt (Fulham) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Scott Parker.

51:40

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Modibo Maiga.

48:11

Attempt saved. Scott Parker (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Adel Taarabt.

47:41

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Alou Diarra.

47:02

Attempt saved. John Arne Riise (Fulham) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by John Arne Riise.

45:57

Offside, West Ham United. Guy Demel tries a through ball, but Modibo Maiga is caught offside.

45:00

Second Half begins Fulham 1, West Ham United 1.

45:00 +2:09 Half time

Half Time First Half ends, Fulham 1, West Ham United 1.

44:58

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

44:26

Delay in match Fernando Amorebieta (Fulham) because of an injury.

43:35 Dismissal

Dismissal Kevin Nolan (West Ham United) is shown the red card for fighting.

43:30

Fernando Amorebieta (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

43:30

Foul by Kevin Nolan (West Ham United).

42:02

Offside, West Ham United. Razvan Rat tries a through ball, but Modibo Maiga is caught offside.

40:47

Attempt blocked. Modibo Maiga (West Ham United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Matthew Taylor.

39:49

Attempt blocked. Philippe Senderos (Fulham) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Damien Duff with a cross.

39:20

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Alou Diarra.

39:18

Attempt blocked. Fernando Amorebieta (Fulham) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.

38:30

Adel Taarabt (Fulham) wins a free kick on the right wing.

38:30

Foul by Matthew Taylor (West Ham United).

38:08

Attempt blocked. Adel Taarabt (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by John Arne Riise.

36:56

Foul by Steve Sidwell (Fulham).

36:56

Matthew Taylor (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

33:00

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Alou Diarra.

32:56

Attempt blocked. Adel Taarabt (Fulham) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Damien Duff.

32:48

Attempt missed. Kieran Richardson (Fulham) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by John Arne Riise.

31:47 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Fulham 1, West Ham United 1. Steve Sidwell (Fulham) header from very close range to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Damien Duff with a cross following a corner.

31:31 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, West Ham United. Razvan Rat replaces Mark Noble because of an injury.

31:26

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

30:07

Delay in match Mark Noble (West Ham United) because of an injury.

29:47

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by Mohamed Diamé.

27:32

Attempt missed. John Arne Riise (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is too high following a corner.

27:29

Attempt blocked. Fernando Amorebieta (Fulham) header from very close range is blocked. Assisted by Damien Duff with a cross.

26:56

Corner, Fulham. Conceded by George McCartney.

25:36

Attempt saved. Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by John Arne Riise with a cross.

24:26

Attempt saved. Adel Taarabt (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Kieran Richardson.

22:37

Attempt saved. Kevin Nolan (West Ham United) header from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Mohamed Diamé with a cross.

19:26

Offside, Fulham. Dimitar Berbatov tries a through ball, but Adel Taarabt is caught offside.

18:11

Offside, West Ham United. Mark Noble tries a through ball, but Modibo Maiga is caught offside.

16:36

Offside, West Ham United. Matthew Taylor tries a through ball, but Modibo Maiga is caught offside.

16:02

Attempt missed. John Arne Riise (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.

15:21

Attempt blocked. Adel Taarabt (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Scott Parker.

14:15

Attempt blocked. Adel Taarabt (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

13:28

Scott Parker (Fulham) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

13:28

Foul by Alou Diarra (West Ham United).

12:18

Attempt missed. Alou Diarra (West Ham United) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Mark Noble with a cross following a corner.

11:45

Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by Fernando Amorebieta.

7:41

Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by David Stockdale.

7:04

Offside, Fulham. Fernando Amorebieta tries a through ball, but Dimitar Berbatov is caught offside.

6:16 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Fulham 0, West Ham United 1. Mohamed Diamé (West Ham United) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Jussi Jääskeläinen following a set piece situation.

5:39

Offside, Fulham. Kieran Richardson tries a through ball, but Dimitar Berbatov is caught offside.

4:04

Attempt saved. Kevin Nolan (West Ham United) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Mohamed Diamé with a headed pass.

3:29

Offside, Fulham. Sascha Riether tries a through ball, but Dimitar Berbatov is caught offside.

0:06

Attempt missed. Modibo Maiga (West Ham United) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.

0:00

First Half begins.

0:00

Lineups are announced and players are warming up.

Live data and text provided by our data suppliers

TEAM NEWS

Fulham will hand late fitness tests to Dimitar Berbatov (groin) and Adel Taarabt (ankle).

Scott Parker returns to the squad and is expected to be one of several changes from the side beaten at Hull.

West Ham have major defensive problems once again but James Collins (groin) reportedly has a chance of playing.

Winston Reid (ankle), James Tomkins (groin), Andy Carroll (heel) and Stewart Downing (calf) remain out, and Ravel Morrison (groin) is doubtful.

MATCH PREVIEW

This fixture is already a real relegation battle for me, and not just because the two clubs are in the bottom three right now.

Fulham have conceded 41 goals in the Premier League this season, nine more than any other club. Regardless of the 6-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of Hull last weekend, the Whites have been guilty of letting in far too many sloppy goals.

New Fulham head coach Rene Meulensteen has beefed up his backroom staff with the appointments of Alan Curbishley as technical director and Ray Wilkins as assistant head coach.

Curbishley slowly built Charlton into a Premier League force and ultimately led them to a seventh-place finish, while Wilkins knows the division inside out.

Both men must work on tightening up that defence and help Meulensteen get to grips with matters at the wrong end of a Premier League table.

Fulham's new management trio will also be looking to get the best out of Dimitar Berbatov, who has missed the last three games, and help Darren Bent rediscover the form that made him one of the division's most lethal strikers. Berbatov and Bent are key to Fulham's survival hopes.

West Ham's goalscoring problems are well documented but just six away goals in nine games explains why they are struggling, and three of those came in one game.

No-one could have foreseen their terrible luck with defensive injuries but with problems now at both ends of the pitch it merely highlights their threadbare squad.

John Heitinga and Asamoah Gyan have been linked in recent days and the Hammers urgently need squad reinforcements.

I'm expecting there to be a lot of tension at Craven Cottage following the 6-0 defeat at Hull, a result even the Fulham players called unacceptable.

I believe it will be close, I don't think there will be many goals and it will be a dog-fight, maybe even right through until the end of the season for both clubs.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

  • Fulham's 3-1 win over West Ham last January was only their second victory over the Hammers in 12 league and cup meetings at Craven Cottage since 1975 (W2, D3, L7).
  • Fulham did not manage a single shot on target against West Ham in November's reverse fixture at Upton Park, a 3-0 defeat.
  • Thirteen goals have been scored in the last three league fixtures between the two sides at Craven Cottage.

Fulham

  • Rene Meulensteen's men, beaten 6-0 at Hull on Saturday, have let in 15 goals in their last four league games.
  • Fulham would be 11th in the table if only results against clubs in the bottom half counted (W5, D1, L3).
  • The west London side have won all three matches when they have kept a clean sheet. However no club has kept fewer clean sheets than the Whites.
  • Fulham have conceded the first goal (14) more often than any other Premier League side this season.

West Ham

  • West Ham are winless in their last six league matches. Their only victory in the last 12 games was November's 3-0 victory over Fulham.
  • The Hammers have one point fewer (15) than they did at this stage of the 2010-11 season when they were last relegated from the Premier League.
  • West Ham have kept eight clean sheets this campaign, the joint-highest in the league along with Arsenal, Everton and Tottenham.
  • Carlton Cole has scored seven goals in his last nine league games against Fulham. He also managed to score an own goal in a 3-2 defeat for the Hammers in 2010.