Marcus Richards
A London derby between table-toppers Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham rounds off what promises to be a thrilling restart to the 2023-24 Premier League campaign on Monday Night Football (MNF) on October 23.
The highlights of the weekend are the Merseyside derby, as Liverpool host Everton at Anfield in the early kick-off (12:30) on Saturday (October 21), before Chelsea face their cross-city foes Arsenal at Stamford Bridge at 17:30.
There isn’t the same unrivalled hatred between Spurs and Fulham as there is in those respective derbies, but there’s still a lot at stake – with Ange Postecoglou’s side hoping to retain their spot at the top of the table.
The West Londoners haven’t beaten Tottenham in the Premier League since a 1-0 win at White Hart Lane back in 2013, so it will come as no surprise that the hosts are the heavy favourites in the Spurs v Fulham odds.
Marco Silva’s men have already knocked Tottenham out of the EFL Cup this season, but these are very different circumstances. That said, let’s take a look at the last three league meetings between these two sides.
Fulham 0-1 Tottenham
The last time these two met in the Premier League was on MNF at Craven Cottage back in January. It was a close affair, but Harry Kane’s strike on the brink of half-time sealed the three points for the visitors, and meant they had lost just one of their last 15 Monday night encounters.
After kicking off 20 minutes later than planned, Eric Dier came close to opening the scoring early on as his effort from distance landed on the roof of the net, while Hugo Lloris was equal to Harrison Reed’s volley.
It was one minute into stoppage time that Kane broke the deadlock, turning on the edge of the area and firing across goal into the far corner. That strike brought the now Bayern Munich striker level with Jimmy Greaves as Spurs’ all-time top scorer.
Tottenham 2-1 Fulham
The first meeting between these two sides last season saw Antonio Conte’s side win 2-1 at the state-of-the-art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The victory meant Spurs extended their unbeaten start to the season to six games, while it was also their 100th win in London derbies.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s low, driving effort gave Tottenham the lead five minutes from the break, and Kane doubled his side’s advantage with a goal 15 minutes from full-time.
Aleksandar Mitrovic pulled one back for Fulham late on, but it was merely a consolation as Spurs remained in the driving seat — and had a third goal disallowed by VAR after Richarlison was deemed offside.
Fulham 0-1 Tottenham
Fulham tend to hold their own at Craven Cottage. That is exemplified by another narrow 1-0 victory for Tottenham on matchday 33 of the 2020-21 campaign.
Jose Mourinho’s Spurs headed west of the capital looking to win consecutive Premier League games for the first time in four months, and Tosin Adarabioyo’s own goal was the difference as Tottenham picked up the three points.
Dele Alli was awarded just his second start of the season, and it was his header that was inadvertently directed in by Adarabioyo.
Threatened by relegation, Fulham pushed for an equaliser. Lloris denied Joachim Andersen and Adarabioyo before the break.
In the second half, the hosts had the ball in the back of the net thanks to Josh Maja. But the goal was disallowed after Mario Lemina was controversially adjudged to have handled the ball in the build-up.
