Fulham v West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
Craven Cottage
Sunday 2 May 2010
3pm
Referee: Andre Marriner
• West Ham United make the short journey to UEFA Europa League finalists Fulham looking to make it three wins out of four games and continue the strong end to the Barclays Premier League campaign. Fulham won through to their first European final in front of the watching Gianfranco Zola on Thursday.
• An away win - which would be the first since the opening day - would take the Hammers to within six points of their hosts, who sit in 12th place and can at best hope for a ninth-placed finish this campaign - equal to last year's best-ever showing in the Barclays Premier League.
• West Ham United are looking to make it 13 Barclays Premier League matches unbeaten against Fulham.
• The last time the Hammers lost to Fulham was a 3-0 home defeat in an FA Cup fifth-round replay in February 2004.
• The Hammers have not lost at Craven Cottage in all competitions since a League Cup tie in the 1974/75 season, the year West Ham beat Fulham 1-0 in the FA Cup final - a run of nine matches unbeaten.
• After a turbulent season, Zola will be targeting a 14th-place finish at best to go with the ninth place achieved in his first campaign.
• Zola's side crucially moved six points clear of the drop zone with last weekend's 3-2 home win against Wigan Athletic, meaning Hull City can only catch them with a huge goal difference swing of 23 in their favour - provided they win two from two and the Hammers do not pick up another point.
• Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is being tipped to win the coach of the year award. The 62-year-old began his coaching career in 1976 with Swedish side Halmstads, eight years before Zola, 43, made his playing debut with USD Nuorese Calcio in his native Sardinia.
• Fulham's last home league victory over West Ham was 44 years ago, a 4-2 victory at Craven Cottage just three months after a Bobby Moore-inspired England won the FIFA World Cup in 1966.
• The last meeting at Craven Cottage was Zola's first away league game in charge of the Hammers on 27 September 2009. Two goals from Carlton Cole and Matthew Etherington just before half-time put the Hammers in the driving seat before Danny Murphy made for a nervy finish with a second-half penalty.
Fulham: Schwarzer, Paintsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Gera, Murphy, Bullard, Davies, Andrew Johnson (sent off 45), Zamora
Subs not used: Zuberbuhler, Seol, Nevland, Dempsey, Andreasen, Kallio, Baird
Goal: Murphy 59 pen
West Ham United: Green, Faubert, Neill, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Parker (Boa Morte 89), Noble, Etherington (Mullins 80), Cole, Di Michele (Bellamy 74)
Subs not used: Lastuvka, Lopez, Davenport, Sears
Goals: Cole 43, Etherington 45
Last time out
Saturday 24 April 2010
Barclays Premier League
West Ham United 3-2 Wigan Athletic
West Ham United: Green, Upson, Spector, Da Costa, Parker, Kovac, Noble (Daprela 89), Behrami, Faubert, Cole, Ilan (Franco 71)
Subs not used: Kurucz, Gabbidon, Diamanti, Stanislas, McCarthy
Goals: Ilan 31, Kovac 45, Parker 77
Thursday 29 April 2010
UEFA Europa League
Fulham 2-1 Hamburger SV
Fulham: Schwarzer, Konchesky, Hangeland, Paintsil (Nevland 75), Hughes, Etuhu, Duff, Murphy, Gera, Davies, Zamora (Dempsey 58)
Subs not used: Zuberbuhler, Greening, Riise, Dikgacoi, Smalling
Goals: Davies 69, Gera 76
Last meeting
The teams last met on Sunday 4 October 2009, when a last-gasp equaliser from Junior Stanislas earned the Hammers a 2-2 draw, having seen Carlton Cole put them in front in the 16th minute.
West Ham: Green, Upson, Ilunga, Tomkins, Parker (Behrami 71), Noble, Jimenez, Faubert, Cole, Diamanti, Hines (Stanislas 72)
Subs not used: Kurucz, Spector, Da Costa, Payne, Nouble
Goals: Cole 16, Stanislas 90
Fulham: Schwarzer, Konchesky, Hangeland, Paintsil, Hughes, Murphy, Gera, Dempsey (Riise 84), Dikgacoi (sent off 41), Kamara (Eddie Johnson 82), Andrew Johnson (Baird, 45 )
Subs not used: Zuberbuhler, Nevland, Greening,
Goals: Murphy 47 pen, Gera 57
Head to head (last six meetings, league unless stated)
4 October 2009 - West Ham United 2-2 Fulham
18 January 2009 - West Ham United 3-1 Fulham
27 September 2008 - Fulham 1-2 West Ham United
23 February 2008 - Fulham 0-1 West Ham United
12 January 2008 - West Ham United 2-1 Fulham
13 January 2007 - West Ham United 3-3 Fulham
Overall record v Fulham (all competitions) W 36, D 19, L 27
Next up
• West Ham United will welcome Manchester City on the final day of the top-flight season next Sunday when Fulham travel to Arsenal. However, Hodgson's men also have to play at home against Stoke City this coming Wednesday. The 2009/10 UEFA Europa League final against Atletico Madrid will take place in Hamburg on 12 May.
Referee
• Sunday's referee is Andre Marriner.
• He was the man in the middle for the Barclays Asia Trophy defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in Beijing on 29 July.
• He also took charge of the 3-2 defeat by Liverpool on 19 September, the 2-2 draw with Sunderland on 31 October, when Radoslav Kovac and Kenwyne Jones were both sent off, and the 3-1 defeat by Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday 15 December. He then refereed the Hammers in the 1-1 draw at Portsmouth on 26 January and the 1-0 home defeat by Stoke City on 26 March.
• In six Marriner-officiated matches this season, including that summer date with Spurs, the Hammers have yet to win.
• He has taken charge of four Fulham matches this campaign. They include home and away defeats by Chelsea, a 2-0 home win against Hull City and a goalless draw away to Liverpool. That 0-0 at Anfield was the most recent, coming on 11 April.
• Marriner began refereeing in 1992. The official joined the Select Group of officials in 2005 and is now on the list of FIFA international referees.
West Ham United
• Alessandro Diamanti will be celebrating his 27th birthday on Sunday.
• Carlton Cole, with nine goals to date this campaign, has still never scored two goals in a game for West Ham.
• Robert Green is on a run of 124 consecutive starts in the Barclays Premier League.
• Alessandro Diamanti's eight goals in all competitions put him just one behind top scorer Carlton Cole.
• In terms of attacking ambition, Diamanti leads the Hammers statistics in terms of shots (81), shots on target (44), shots off target (37) and assists (4).
• Valon Behrami has gone 38 fouls without a yellow card, the most in the Barclays Premier League.
• West Ham have scored 44 goals this season in the league with 15 different players on target. Carlton Cole leads the way (nine), with Alessandro Diamanti (seven), Guille Franco and Ilan (four), Matthew Upson (three) next in line. Jack Collison, Mark Noble, Junior Stanislas, Manuel da Costa, Radoslav Kovac and Scott Parker have each scored twice. Finally, the departed Luis Jimenez, Zavon Hines, Valon Behrami and Julien Faubert have also registered. An own-goal from Everton's Tony Hibbert completes the tally.
• No team has been awarded more penalties than West Ham in the top flight this season, with nine awarded to the Hammers and seven converted.
Fulham
• No Fulham player has featured in every one of their 35 league games this season, Mark Schwarzer has played in all but one.
• Former Hammers striker Bobby Zamora has scored eight times in the Barclays Premier League this season to be the club's top scorer, and has another eleven in cup competitions.
• Zamora also leads his team with assists (six) while Clint Dempsey actually has had more shots than any other player in the team with 86.
• Fulham have only lost at home in the league to four teams this season - Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa.
Team news
• Luis Boa Morte, after missing the whole season to date with an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered on 24 July, is back in contention for a place in the midfield. Boa Morte has now got three reserve-team appearances under his belt.
• James Tomkins is also fit again after a foot injury and will join Danny Gabbidon in trying to get past Manuel da Costa and into the team alongside Matt Upson.
• Ilan has shaken off the knock that forced his substitution against Wigan a week ago. Benni McCarthy also played 45 minutes for the reserves in midweek.
• Herita Ilunga (tendon injury) and Kieron Dyer (hamstring) are both unable to return to the squad. It remains to be seen if they will figure again this season.
• Zavon Hines will not play again this season with a knee injury, while Jack Collison will also not feature any more this campaign with his own knee problem.
• Fulham could make a number of changes with Zamora unlikely to be risked after feeling an achilles injury again in the midweek European tie that forced him off. Clint Dempsey, Chris Baird, Nicky Shorey, Stefano Okaka and Manchester United-bound Chris Smalling could all come into the starting lineup.
• Andy Johnson, sent off in this fixture last year, is out with a knee injury.
Old boys
• Luis Boa Morte made 250 appearances for Fulham in all competitions between July 2000 and January 2007, scoring 54 goals. Boa Morte scored 18 goals as the Cottagers secured promotion to the Premier League in 2000/01. He was voted the club's player of the season in 2004/05.
• Three Fulham players could turn out against their former club this afternoon. Striker Bobby Zamora scored 40 goals in 152 league and cup appearances for West Ham United between February 2004 and July 2008. Full-back John Pantsil played 24 matches for the Hammers between August 2006 and July 2008. Left-back Paul Konchesky made 70 appearances for West Ham between July 2005 and July 2007, scoring one of only two goals for the club in the 2006 FA Cup final.
• Bobby Moore MBE played for both West Ham United and Fulham during his glittering career. Moore made 544 appearances for the Hammers before moving to Craven Cottage for £25,000 in 1974. England's World Cup-winning captain remained at Fulham for three years, making a further 124 appearances and facing his former side in the 1975 FA Cup final, which West Ham won 2-0.
• Among the other players who have represented both sides are Jan Lastuvka, Jimmy Bullard, Ian Pearce, Rufus Brevett, George Carter, Brian Dear, Tony Gale, Ron Greenwood, Jon Harley, Fred Harrison, Jack Hebden and George Horler.
General information
• For ticket information, click here. For details on getting to Craven Cottage, click here
• Sunday's weather forecast is for heavy rain with temperatures around the 11C mark.