David Prutton issues prediction for Fulham’s top of the table clash with Bournemouth | OneFootball

Friday night sees perhaps the biggest match in the Championship so far this season as table-topping Fulham take on second placed AFC Bournemouth at Craven Cottage.

The two sides are clear of Queens Park Rangers in third spot by eight and seven points respectively and they are clearly the classiest pairing in the second tier right now.

But in recent matches there has been a slight slump from both sides, with Fulham’s seven-match winning run ended with a stalemate at home to Derby County last week before another draw, this time on the road against Preston North End.

Quiz: Has Aleksandar Mitrovic ever scored a goal for Fulham at each of these 26 stadiums?

The Cherries, managed now by ex-Fulham head coach Scott Parker, have only won one of their previous five, losing to PNE and Derby as well as drawing against Millwall and Coventry.

Those results prove that the Championship is as unpredictable as ever and the south coast club will have to go to west London without Jefferson Lerma, who was sent off against Coventry on Saturday.

EFL presenter David Prutton cannot split the two sides though for when they meet under the lights by the River Thames as he’s going for a 2-2 draw.

“The runaway pair in the Championship meet at Craven Cottage!” Prutton said on his Sky Sports predictions podcast.

“Both sides have had absences in recent weeks but both have the squad to cope with it, and you are going to have spells like that during a season.

“We’ve also got the subplot of Scott Parker returning to Fulham, and he’ll want to prove a point and get his Bournemouth side back to the top of the table.

“I fancy goals here, but I can’t split the pair. Score draw.”

The Verdict

This could literally go either way because the two sides are for one split by just a point in the table but have also suffered a drop-off in form recently.

Fulham may not have lost for a while but draws against Derby and PNE will be seen as a setback, and they’ll need to be on top form here.

Lerma will be a big miss for the visitors though but Scott Parker has strength in depth fortunately if there are no new fitness issues.

I’m going for a narrow Cottagers victory though which would mean they stretch their advantage over the Cherries in the table to four points.