Both Fulham and Sheffield Wednesday are expected to do very well this season, but surprisingly neither of them have won a game in the Championship yet. Fulham have drawn all three of their games so far while Sheffield Wednesday lost their opening game, before drawing their last two. Both need something to kick start their campaign and a win here would do that.
The Championship is a hard league to make ground up and neither will want to play catch up after the first month of the season. That means they have to start picking up wins soon and both will be looking to start with a win in this one.
Fulham Form
Quite a few people, including myself tipped Fulham for promotion at the start of the season and they are one of many teams that I still expect to be involved. They certainly have the squad to challenge but for whatever reason, they have failed to fire just yet, although I am sure we will see it soon.
One area they will want to improve on is their goal scoring after they have scored just two goals in their opening three games. However, the circumstances for those games have not been ideal and hopefully in a better situation in this game we can see more from them.
They have the ability to fight for promotion but seem to be lacking a spark right now. Hopefully a win or two will give them that and they can kick on from their position.
Sheffield Wednesday Form
Just like Fulham, a few people tipped Sheffield Wednesday to be up there challenging for promotion this season. They haven’t started that well though and a team like theirs who has always been close over the past couple of seasons, a good start is vital for morale.
A poor opening day loss away at Preston has been followed up by home draws to Sunderland and QPR, leaving The Owls with just two points. That isn’t a terrible start, but fans would have been expecting better when you look at the teams they have played.
Wednesday have one of the strongest attacking squads in the league, with many options available to them, including some players who are probably a little too good for this league and could play in the Premier League. However, they haven’t found a line-up that clicks yet, and they have scored just twice in three games, something that needs to be improved upon.
Team News
I expect both teams in this game to continue to change things up until they find a formation and a line-up that clicks for them. Both squads are full of talent, but for whatever reason they haven’t shown that in their opening games. The next few weeks are vital and if these two want to challenge for promotion then their season needs to take off.
Fulham will be looking at players like Aboubakar Kamara and Lucas Piazon for inspiration this weekend and going forward in their other games. These two are experienced and know what it takes to win games, we need to see them on the ball more and creating as many chances as possible for the team.
Sheffield Wednesday have a lot of different strikers available to them. One who came on off the bench and scored last weekend was Sam Winall and because of that he started in their game on Wednesday. However, he didn’t do much that game and was replaced by Jordan Rhodes. Wednesday need to find the winning formula with their strikers and fast.
Top Betting Tips
This game is a very difficult one to predict due to both teams struggling right now. I am hopeful that both of them can eventually pick up their game and climb the table but for now it is very difficult to say what will happen.
Looking at the prices and looking from a value angle, I am going to back Fulham to win this game, they are priced at evens with Ladbrokes and Paddy Power. Had they started the season better they would be much shorter than this so I am more than happy to play them at evens in the hope that this game is where their season begins to turn around.
A potentially good game, with two teams full of attacking options but in this game I am going to side with Fulham in the hope that they can kick start their season with a good win over Sheffield Wednesday.