Fulham

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The Premier League returns this weekend, with each club having played seven matches.

BBC Sport has looked at eight players that have performed better than fans may have expected this season.

It has been an impressive start to the campaign for 33-year-old Mexico striker Raul Jimenez, who has three goals and an assist to his name for Fulham.

This season has been a welcome return to form after he went 33 games without a league goal between March 2022 and November 2023, firstly with Wolves and then in his first three months at Craven Cottage.

In 2019-20 he scored 17 league goals for Wolves, but then in November 2020 suffered a fractured skull that threatened not only his career, but his life.

He went eight months before he could play football again and his return to goalscoring has been one of the stories of the season so far.

Did you know? Jimenez has either scored (three) or assisted (one) a goal in his past four Premier League games, the first time he has registered a goal involvement in four consecutive appearances in the division since December 2019.

See the other players BBC Sport picked here

Image source, Opta

With the October international break now firmly in the rearview mirror, Opta Analyst, external have turned their attention to the next four Premier League fixtures.

Here, they have given each team a ranking between 80 and 100 and then found the average to determine to difficulty of the schedule.

Liverpool's opening seven matches were ranked the easiest in the league, but their upcoming four are the fourth-toughest in the division. They will face Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Brighton, with an average opponent strength of 91.4 before the next international break.

Fellow early pacesetters Arsenal also have challenging fixtures, playing Bournemouth, Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea with an average rating of 90.7, while Manchester City's next four against Wolves, Southampton, Bournemouth and Brighton are ranked the third-easiest by Opta.

Chelsea and Brighton have the second-hardest and third-hardest runs respectively, a real test given the promising starts for their new managers Enzo Maresca and Fabian Hurzeler.

At the other end of the table, Leicester - who recently secured their first win of the season against Bournemouth - have a chance to build with the easiest run in the division. They face Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich and Manchester United.

Fellow promoted side Ipswich will hope to pick up their first win of the season during a run of games that is ranked the fifth-easiest.

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Fulham boss Marco Silva has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Aston Villa (kick-off 15:00 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Silva confirmed that Sasa Lukic will be out after picking up a shoulder injury while playing for Serbia and Timothy Castagne is also unavailable after returning from international duty "with a problem in his hamstring".

• Nigeria internationals Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey are available after "tough" incident which saw them left stranded at an airport overnight: "When the players go to the national team to play they are proud of that moment. The most important thing is they can enjoy football and play for their countries, something that those players did not get to enjoy."

• On news that former Fulham Ladies captain Ronnie Gibbons alleges she was "groped" by the club's late owner Mohamed Al Fayed: "Sad for all of us to hear that. We as a football club have empathy with the situation and we are against all of these things. We are clear it is now down to the football club to investigate more."

• On facing Aston Villa: "We want to remind ourselves from the match we played where we were so good [3-0 win]. They are a tough side. We have got to understand how good they have been this season and how hard to they are to beat."

• He added: "They will be fully motivated to get a good result but they will know what they are going to face as well. The way we played against the Premier League champions - they are aware of that."

• On Raul Jimenez form: "The reality is, me and my staff we were the only ones who believed and trusted he could be back to that level. After the worst moment of his career, and maybe his life, it was tough to come back and feel trust from people and to score the goals again. But it was in a Fulham shirt, against Villa at home [that he scored] and from that moment we saw completely different Raul again."

• On players describing Silva in one word, external: "They are the best people to talk about it. I agree with all those [words] because that is only way I can be in my job. I can't hide this. If you love something, you have to be passionate. To be demanding, detailed, they play a big part on the pitch."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

We've dived into the data for Premier League clubs' fastest player, most sprints made, most distance covered and most time spent walking.

And Fulham are the only club where the same man tops all the metrics.

But who is it?

Think you know? Find out here

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Harry Wilson kept his cool from the penalty spot to give Wales a 1-0 win over Montenegro on Monday.

Eight of Wales' last 13 goals have either been scored (5) or assisted (3) by Wilson and he has netted in three consecutive appearances for the Dragons for the very first time.

Wilson has been directly involved in nine goals across his last 11 appearances for Wales (5 goals, 4 assists), as many as in his previous 41 games for his country.

BBC Sport pundit Fara Williams will be answering your questions, giving her insight and opinion around your club.

So what would you like to ask the former England midfielder?

What can your team achieve after their start to the season? Who has been your best player so far? What does the manager's future hold?

Send in your questions here, external

Fulham, Everton and Leeds United are interested in Steaua Bucharest's 28-year-old Cameroon centre-back Joyskim Dawa, who has a release clause in the region of £4m. (Mirror)

Want more transfer stories? Read Sunday's full gossip column

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Earlier, we asked you for the three players who have scored more than 30 Premier League goals for Fulham.

Clint Dempsey scored 50 times in the top flight for Fulham, while Steed Malbranque and Brian McBride both netted 32 goals apiece for the London club.

Image source, Getty Images

Even though it is still early days in the Premier League season, there are teams standing out for both good and bad reasons.

The side that has impressed me most this campaign so far has been Fulham.

Under Marco Silva this term, with a couple of new signings, they feel a more solid team but have also maintained that element of threat at the other end.

When they look at where they are in the table, it is a perfectly fair reflection of their start.

There will not be many times when a team completely outplays them to the point where it becomes a non-event, so I have found that to be really impressive.

As for the team that have been disappointing and worried me the most, it is Crystal Palace.

They have sold Michael Olise and they lost Joachim Andersen as well. That's two big players across recent seasons, but I would still have expected that by now Palace would have won a league game.

Yes, they have had some tough matches along the way, but I would not expect them to be in the position they are with the low goalscoring record they have after seven games.

With the talent that they have, it is still enough to be doing better and that is a bit of a concern. The fans will know they will continue to try and they will find something, but there will be an element of disappointment and that would be valid.

I did not anticipate the quest for their first league win would be going into October.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson

Can you name the three players who have scored more than 30 Premier League goals for Fulham?

Answer will be revealed at 17:00 BST

Former manager Mark Warburton talks to The Football News Show about how managers can deal with mental health struggles while working at a club and what support there is available to them.

Watch The Football News Show's Mental Health special

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Over the years there are moments that jump out at you as being innovative to a level that is hard to imagine for the mere mortals.

‌We all have our own favourites and I have plenty on YouTube I look back on. I might even have one or two of my own, check out my goal for Everton v Man Utd back in 1992.

‌I selfishly digress because another one of my favourite moments of creativity, to rival the likes of Cantona, Bergkamp, Rooney and De Bruyne, was delivered by Raul Jimenez against Manchester City. On the BBC’s flagship highlights programme Match of the Day, it wasn’t given its due respect during the analysis, let me make up for that. I would argue that there will not be a better assist this season in the Premier League.

‌You rarely if ever see that next-level type of backheel no-look pass in the box, because it is that difficult even just to imagine the skill never mind deliver it. It was total, inspirational inventiveness in the moment.

‌I’m off now to watch it back, yet again. Well done Raul, for the moment of the week by a country mile, yes even above Cole Palmer sitting down on the field in exasperation when the rest of the players were having a puerile pushing party by the dugout.

Sign up to read more from Pat Nevin in his Football Extra newsletter here

Drew Heatley
Fan writer

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Has a defeat ever felt less like a defeat?

It’s an illustration of Manchester City’s impact on the modern game that many of us still feel so buoyant after the weekend. After all, we played the champions off the park for large periods on Saturday. But Marco Silva and the boys won’t need reminding that you don’t get any points for impressing the neutrals.

Zero points, then. But plenty of positives. Firstly, we have enough strength in depth for Silva to tactically rotate out our £34m record signing, and for that decision to be proved right. Sander Berge came in to provide extra height and steel to the midfield and he did just that.

Secondly, both our strikers are performing. Raul Jimenez continued his fine start to the season with an audacious back-heeled assist for Andreas Pereira’s opener, while Rodrigo Muniz came off the bench to get off the mark for 2024-25 - at the Etihad, no less.

And thirdly, we are sublimely exciting to watch. In Adama Traore we have one of the most unique wingers in the league. Yes, he could have - and should have - finished some of his chances on Saturday. But only he could have got in those positions in the first place. That footage of him leaving Kyle Walker in his dust will live long in the memory.

When the last international break arrived, I welcomed it so Marco could get his tactics in order and bed in our new arrivals. As we arrive at another break, five games and seven points later, it’s a great time to regroup ahead of a 10-game run to Christmas, during which we face just three top six clubs. If we pick up a similar points-per-game tally, we’d be well on course to surpass our best-ever points total.

And, despite this defeat, it certainly feels like that kind of season.

Find more from Drew Heatley at Fulhamish, external

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A VAR related question was put to chief football writer Phil McNulty on Monday's Q&A.

@nubiblue on 'X' asked: Is the new improved VAR working? To me it continues to favour certain clubs.

Phil answered: First of all, I don't believe VAR favours certain clubs and quite honestly, I've not noticed too much difference or huge improvement.

Maybe a little less interference but I confess I lost a lot of faith in VAR after initially being a strong advocate.

I would be happy with semi-automated offside and line technology.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Manchester City and Fulham.

Here are some of your comments:

City fans

Lea: We are missing Rodri so much. Can't afford to give two goals away. Better teams than Fulham will take points off us. I don't think we will get a trophy this season. How I hope I am wrong.

Tim: Agree with Pep - let's give credit to the opposition, they played some very good football and contributed to a great game to watch. However, let's also give credit to the champions for digging in and winning a very difficult game. Keep the run going, get more familiar without Rodri and improve.

Nick: Hard fought win and another team pushing City. However, I feel that playing Rico Lewis is becoming a luxury and not a necessity. I just don't get his hype. Too easily pushed off the ball or out of possession and I've never known anyone pushed over so easily. Please Rico prove me wrong.

William: City looking flat and slow again. Leaking cheap goals and missing that spark of seasons gone by. Confusing substitutions that didn’t seem to positively influence the match. Something is missing and it’s not just De Bruyne and Rodri.

Fulham fans

Bill: I thought Fulham were brilliant and frankly shocked City. Had Traore scored number two I think the result would have been very different. Much praise from Pep and many positives to take away from a great game of football.

David: Three points dropped potentially, all three of Traore's chances were clearer than any of City's. Score any two of those and it's a win. In reality Fulham could/should have been 3-0 up before City scored and I doubt even they would come back from that.

Will: A display that I am incredibly proud of. Perhaps another day we could have got a result, but this was a great performance in the hardest game of the season. Onwards!

Paul: Fulham were excellent went toe to toe with the best. Created so many good chances. Proud of them.

Sarah Mulkerrins
Final Score reporter at Etihad Stadium

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There was a big puff of the cheeks for Pep Guardiola as the win sunk in - he knew his side were in more of a fight than many expected.

Fulham weathered the early pressure and settled in defence. They did really well on the break, exposing Manchester City at times and gained huge confidence as the game went on.

In as much as a manager can be happy with a loss, you imagine Marco Silva will appreciate a lot of what his team showed. It could also have been so different if Adama Traore was able to finish any of the three chances when he was one on one with Ederson.

There were lots of supportive claps on his shoulder and back at full-time from team-mates and from Silva, who was also deep in a long conversation with Guardiola post-match.

As City adjust to the loss of Rodri, Mateo Kovacic put in a really good shift, along with scoring the crucial goals that pulled them level and then ahead.

However, you still feel they are a little unsettled and Kevin de Bruyne will be a welcome return after the international break if all goes well.

But they got the win which was so important for them after back-to-back draws - and they didn't even have to rely on Erling Haaland for the goals.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC pundits Chris Waddle and Micah Richards were both impressed by Fulham's performance despite eventually losing 3-2 at Manchester City on Saturday.

Marco Silva's side took the lead at Etihad Stadium and spurned several presentable opportunities to extend their lead and then get back into the game after City turned the game around.

"At first they parked the bus, which most teams do when they come to Manchester City," former Newcastle and Tottenham winger Waddle told Sports Report on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Then they grew in confidence. They thought 'let's have a go' - and with the chances they missed they will be disappointed they didn't get a point.

"They should have got all three really with the chances they created. They'll go away very disappointed. City looked very leggy compared to Fulham."

Former City defender Richards added: "The story, for me, was Fulham.

"They were excellent and had it been for better finishing they could have come away with something."

Listen to Saturday's Sports Report on BBC Sounds

Highlights and analysis from Saturday's seven Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Man City 3-2 Fulham

• Everton 0-0 Newcastle