Fulham

Laura Kenyon
Final Score reporter at Craven Cottage

Image source, Getty Images

Marco Silva could not have complained if his side only took a point from the eventual last-gasp win over Leeds.

The chatter among home fans leaving Craven Cottage, while pleased with the result, was: 'where will the goals come from this season?'

Harry Wilson is always a threat from a set-piece, but in open play, the absence of a prolific goalscorer becomes more noticeable after a game where they only managed three shots on target and have an expected goals ratio of 0.7.

Is the answer Fulham's new £40m signing Kevin?

The Brazilian played a cameo on Saturday but could be key in Silva's offensive plans moving forward.

Pundits Ashley Williams and Shay Given join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Everton 0-0 Aston Villa

• Newcastle 1-0 Wolves

• West Ham 0-3 Tottenham

Matthew Howarth
BBC Sport journalist

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Fulham were seething at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago after Josh King's first-half strike against Chelsea was wrongly disallowed for a foul in the build-up by Rodrigo Muniz.

This first league win of the season - and the manner of it - will have been the perfect antidote to that 2-0 defeat by their west London neighbours.

For a long time, though, it looked like being another frustrating afternoon for Marco Silva's men.

They failed to register a shot until the 58th minute and only really started to threaten Leeds' goal once Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore had been introduced from the bench on the hour mark.

Smith Rowe struck the foot of the post - although the goal wouldn't have counted after referee Craig Pawson spotted a foul in the build-up - while Traore's raw pace caused Gabriel Gudmundsson problems down the right flank.

Brazilian forward Kevin, a club-record deadline day arrival from Shakhtar, very nearly made himself an instant hero after cutting in from the left and unleashing a sumptuous, curling drive which Karl Darlow did brilliantly to tip over.

Unfortunately for Leeds and Gudmundsson, the Swedish full-back's late intervention proved decisive.

Fulham boss Marco Silva spoke to BBC Match of the Day after his side's victory over Leeds: "Definitely a tight game, very difficult in some moments to break them down.

"You felt straightaway the changes that Daniel [Farke] made to his team were to be much more conservative out wide, control better our left-hand side - and they did it.

"With good organisation it is not easy to break them down. In the first half, we were probably too slow. We did not take too many risks and we were too slow, then it is difficult to break them down. They had one good shot from a second ball.

"I think second half we were much better, more dynamic. In these moments, you can have a bit of fatigue and in the last 30 minutes we did create some dangerous moments around their box. Great header from Rodrigo, we should have scored.

"An own goal in the last minute of the game so we have to feel a bit fortunate. A nice feeling for us, a difficult feeling for Daniel and the Leeds boys but that is part of the game.

"It was important for us to keep a clean sheet because we need to create this habit and it allowed us to go on and try to win the game."

On Kevin's debut from the bench: "Massive impact from him. I know him very well. When I pushed the board to go for him, he's a player I know. Still very young but already enough maturity. He was playing in different league, not a top five league, but in Champions League and you could see in moments the quality of the player.

"He's an exciting player and he has a profile that we don't have in our side. It's good to have competition and have players that can break down opposition teams.

"It is not about the speed, it's about the circumstances when you sign players on the last day of the market. If a player has a pre-season he has time to settle and understand what we want, if they arrive last day of the window it is going to take more time.

"He's a great talent and he's going to help us."

Did you know?

• Fulham had just five shots against Leeds which is their fewest on record (since 2003-04) for a Premier League home match they went on to win.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Fulham's performance

What did you make of Leeds' display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Marco Silva makes one change to the Fulham side that lost to neighbours Chelsea at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago.

Harry Wilson comes in for Timothy Castagne, who is joined on the bench by fit-again Issa Diop and deadline-day signing Kevin.

Fulham XI: Leno, Tete, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon, Lukic, Berge, Wilson, King, Iwobi, Rodrigo Muniz

Subs: Lecomte, Jimenez, Cairney, Adama, Castagne, Kevin, Diop, Smith Rowe, Robinson

Daniel Farke makes five changes to the Leeds team that drew 0-0 at home to Newcastle last time out.

Fit-again Ethan Ampadu returns to the side, while Karl Darlow, Brenden Aaronson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Noah Okafor all come in.

Daniel James, Lukas Nmecha, Wilfried Gnonto and Ilia Gruev drop to the bench, while goalkeeper Lucas Perri misses out through injury.

Leeds XI: Darlow, Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Gudmundsson, Longstaff, Ampadu, Stach, Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin, Okafor

Subs: Meslier, James, Nmecha, Bijol, Harrison, Tanaka, Justin, Gnonto, Gruev

There are eight games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Arsenal v Nottingham Forest (12:30)

• Bournemouth v Brighton

• Crystal Palace v Sunderland

• Everton v Aston Villa - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Fulham v Leeds United

• Newcastle v Wolves - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• West Ham v Tottenham (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Brentford v Chelsea (20:00)

Kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Everton v Aston Villa" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Newcastle v Wolves", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

For once, I am very confident I will get this prediction right.

Leeds might fancy their chances at Craven Cottage but you only have to look at their respective squads to see the difference in quality between the two sides, player for player, including on the bench.

Fulham did not have much luck with the decisions that went against them in their defeat by Chelsea last time out, but they were able to bring on Adama Traore, Emile Smith-Rowe, Raul Jimenez and Harry Wilson as they chased that game.

Leeds just do not have that kind of depth and they were well beaten on their last trip to London, a 5-0 defeat at Arsenal a couple of weeks ago.

This will be closer, but with the same end result.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Sophie Brown
BBC Sport journalist

Goals might be scarce when Fulham and Leeds United meet at Craven Cottage, with both sides struggling to find the net this campaign.

Fulham are one of four Premier League teams yet to win in this season's competition. They have scored just twice, although that tally would have been greater, had Josh King's goal against Chelsea last time out not been disallowed, a mistake acknowledged by the Premier League's Key Match Incidents panel this week.

Last season's top scorer, Raul Jimenez, is yet to score in the league although did bag a goal in the EFL Cup, as well as finding the net for Mexico in midweek. Rodrigo Muniz, their next top scorer from 2024-25 has netted twice but one was an own goal.

Fulham have conceded from either an own goal or penalty in each of their league games this season. In fact, they have given away a penalty in each of their past five top-flight matches – a sixth would set a new Premier League record.

Leeds were always going to be reliant on the fortress-like qualities of Elland Road this season, and their pre-international break draw against Newcastle was a second consecutive clean sheet at home, and took their unbeaten home league run to 22 matches.

But they need to pick up points away from west Yorkshire, and their 5-0 drubbing at Arsenal last month was not a good omen. In fact, it meant they had lost their past eight away Premier League matches in London, conceding 26 goals in those defeats.

Head coach Daniel Farke said on transfer deadline day that "in order to be competitive and to survive in the best league in the world, we need to do a bit more in the offence", but Leeds still look short of goalscorers who can be relied upon to stay fit, with free transfers Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha both injury-prone.

Leeds' only league goal of the season has come from the penalty spot, while their first and only shot on target against Newcastle last time out came in the 90th minute from Calvert-Lewin. In their previous league game against Arsenal, they also only had one shot on target.

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

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

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• The players who went on international duty have returned "in good shape" so there are no new injury concerns.

• Silva said he will "have to make some important decisions" on who starts the game after seeing how the players responded to training on Friday.

• On the Chelsea defeat, in which there were several VAR controversies: "You have time to think and analyse, but not with the full squad because straight after the match they went on international duty. As staff, we analysed the game, as we always do, and we had some speech with the players about it as well. We move on."

• He said that performance "was high level but other circumstances did not allow" Fulham to claim three points. Silva hopes they can maintain that level moving forward.

• On the upcoming back-to-back home games: "It is very important to be back at Craven Cottage, so let's go for it."

• He said opponents Leeds are "a tough team" and they have had a "good start" to the season with four points already on the board.

• More on Daniel Farke's side: "They make things different for the opposition but it's more about ourselves and what we can do. It's very important for us to win. We have to go for it."

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

Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

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Fulham's club-record £34.6m signing Kevin will go to another level under manager Marco Silva, according to Shakhtar Sporting director Dario Srna.

The 22-year-old, who scored 17 goals in 57 matches in all competitions for the Ukrainian club, finally moved to Craven Cottage with fellow wide player Samuel Chukwueze on deadline day.

Speaking about the move, which he negotiated directly, Srna told BBC Sport: "Fulham have an amazing winger, he has amazing skills, is so fast, good one-versus-one, he even defends well.

"With Marco Silva, for me one of the best coaches in the Premier League, he will continue to develop for sure. I believe Kevin will move to one of the biggest clubs within the next two years."

However, there were concerns that the deal may not go through with Fulham having also agreed a deal to sign Chelsea winger Tyrique George for £22m and amid reports Portuguese club Sporting hijacked the move for Kevin.

"We kept our position from the first day," Srna added. "We told Fulham our price and that's it. We cannot sell for less - than what we said.

"We had a lot offers for him and he could have gone elsewhere but he decided Fulham was best for him. It was his dream to play in the Premier League but we needed our conditions to be met to sell him."

Srna admits the move leaves Shakhtar in the usual position of having to rebuild without a star player but they are happy to keep signing top players out of Brazil before moving them on.

"Kevin came to us having not been able to get into Palmeiras' team and 18 months later he is sold for 40m euros to Fulham. Brazilians are happy to join Shakhtar because we develop them and they help us get good results, get into Europe and sell players to the top clubs.

"We brought three amazing talents, 19-year-old Lucas Ferreira from Sao Paulo and 18-year-olds Isaque from Fluminense and Luca Meirelles from Santos, they show we can still recruit well from Brazil.

"Midfielder Georhiy Sudakov also went to Benfica and we develop Ukrainian talents also. But it's harder with the war, we hope it ends soon. We keep working, the league remains competitive and this is the youngest team in Shakhtar's history."

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Raul Jimenez scored for Mexico in their 2-2 draw against South Korea on Tuesday night at Geodis Park in Tennessee, United States.

The 34-year-old has failed to find the target for Fulham in their opening three Premier League matches in August, but did get a goal against Bristol City in the second round of the Carabao Cup.

So far, that is the Whites' only victory this season.

Jimenez scored 14 goals across 43 matches in all competitions for Fulham throughout the 2024-25 campaign.

Drew Heatley
Fan writer

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One of the most heart-warming moments of the summer was the announcement that we get one final year of Tom Cairney.

Last week, the club premiered a feature-length documentary recapping our captain's time at the club. After a glitzy event in our new Riverside stand, it was released for free on Friday.

The film is a masterpiece that shows just how much can happen in a decade. Three promotions to the Premier League – two via Wembley. Two relegations from the top flight and now this period of sustainability under Marco Silva.

TC was there for it all - and now we can say thank you properly.

That, coupled with my fear this might be Silva's final year, makes me wonder what the club could achieve to send them off appropriately.

We return from the international break with three games in 10 days that could ultimately determine the course of the season. First up is Leeds United, the club that released Cairney as a young teenager – something his mum makes clear in the documentary she has never forgotten.

Then it is the west London derby with Brentford; a game that needs no narrative to provide any extra spice.

Both sides have their first wins on the board, while we await ours. One or two victories from those and we are right back up the table. Anything less and we remain in the bottom three and the campaign quickly becomes an uphill battle.

Finally, there is Cambridge United in the Carabao Cup. Silva has made it clear that he wants to win Fulham's first major piece of silverware - and the League Cup offers the best chance to do it.

But if we struggle in those two league games then Silva may make changes, which could present an opportunity for our League Two opponents.

I expect Cairney to play a role in all three games. His new deal, while drenched in nostalgia, is still based on footballing merit.

If we do go on to achieve something special this year, Fulham may need to release an extended version of his documentary.

Find more from Drew Heatley at Fulhamish, external

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The dust has just about settled on Fulham's transfer window.

In total, the Cottagers brought in four players for a total of about £35m based on reported initial fees.

Those incomings were:

• Kevin - Shakhtar Donetsk (permanent)

• Benjamin Lecomte - Montpellier (permanent)

• Samuel Chukwueze - AC Milan (loan)

• Johan Kusi-Asare - Bayern Munich (loan)

Heading the other way, Fulham had eight notable outgoings.

These included the permanent exit of Andreas Pereira to Palmeiras, plus the free transfer of Carlos Vinicius to Gremio and releasing of Willian.

Of all the summer incomings at Craven Cottage, who do you think will have the biggest impact?

Rank them here

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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It might seem like ancient history already but Fulham's disallowed goal against Chelsea at the weekend is still upsetting me. The youngster Josh King was denied a fabulous goal on the highest stage. It could also have led to Fulham taking all three points, or at least one.

Each is a reason to be miffed as is the fact that not only did the VAR get it wrong, but after looking at the footage, the referee did not understand what had happened either.

There was no foul as Rodrigo Muniz could not plant his foot anywhere else other than where Trevoh Chalobah's foot happened to be. It was an unfortunate contact, not a careless action or tackle.

Some referees sneer at players as they do not know all the intricacies of the rules, particularly as they change each season. I understand that, though I do not like it one bit.

Players on the other hand get furious with referees who know the rules but do not have enough understanding of the game, and this was a perfect example of that problem.

At least referees body PGMOL tends to issue an apology these days for such errors, though that does not help Fulham and young Josh very much.

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Drew Heatley
Fan writer

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The key word around this window has been 'plan'. And, sadly, it looks like we just did not have one.

Two weeks ago a frustrated Marco Silva said: "This season, we had a plan - the plan has fallen through. It is our fault - not active at all."

Fulham owner Shahid Khan and his son, director of football Tony Khan, are notorious for their penchant to bag Deadline Day deals.

This season, they took it even further and turned a two-month window into a one-day opportunity manic dash.

We signed two wingers on Monday - Samuel Chukwueze from AC Milan on loan, and young Brazilian Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk.

On paper, both are good signings and strengthen the squad. But they are not enough - and there is no reason why both could not have been made weeks ago.

Then there were some baffling moves.

We were reportedly in talks to sell Harry Wilson to Leeds. Sell one of our best players, in an area we are actively shopping for, to a direct rival - why? Thankfully, it did not materialise.

We also announced on Tuesday that we have signed 18-year-old Bayern Munich striker Jonah Kusi-Asare, in a loan deal with an option. It is another head-scratcher.

Marco Silva is famously reticent to blood our academy youngsters in the Premier League and yet we are pursuing a player with just two senior appearances.

We have highly-rated academy forward Aaron Loupalo-Bi at Motspur Park, why not give him a chance? Or if we do not rate him highly enough, what is the point?

It has been a frustrating summer, and as the window closes, we sit in the relegation zone.

Our rivals have strengthened while we have stagnated and two deals on deadline day, great value though they may be, have not changed that.

There was no plan. Now, Marco Silva needs a good one to help us compete in these next 35 games.

Rating: 4/10

Find more from Drew Heatley at Fulhamish, external

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We asked for your views on Fulham's record signing of winger Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Here are some of your comments:

Steve: Absolutely delighted with Kevin and Chukwueze, two pacey wingers that can make things happen, and give us extra attacking options. Gutted that the Tyrique George deal fell through, though.

Max: Kevin has amazing potential but he loses the ball too often when trying to beat too many players at once. If Silva can get him to pass more and fit in with the style of play, he could be a superstar for Fulham.

Bryn: Happy to have two good wingers on board, but still concerned by the absence of a centre forward.

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Fulham have signed Jonah Kusi-Asare on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich.

The 18-year-old Sweden Under-21 forward joins with the option of the loan being made permanent.

"I'm really excited," Kusi-Aare said. "It's a fantastic club with great supporters, and I can't wait to get started, work with my team-mates and give everything for the club."