Fulham will kick off their preparations for the 2023-24 season with a friendly against fellow Premier League outfit Brentford on Sunday night.
Marco Silva's side are building towards their season opener against Everton on August 12, while Brentford will begin their campaign with a home game against Tottenham Hotspur on August 13.
Match preview
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Fulham are yet to play a friendly this summer, but they have now travelled to the United States for the Premier League Summer Series, which includes Chelsea, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford alongside the Cottagers.
Silva's team will take on Brentford, Villa and Chelsea in the competition before returning to England for their final friendly of the summer against Hoffenheim at Craven Cottage.
Fulham will begin their 2023-24 Premier League campaign away to Everton on August 12, but there is a feeling that a lot will happen at the club before then, with the team's manager currently being strongly linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, in addition to star forward Aleksandar Mitrovic.
There have been suggestions that Mitrovic does not want to play for Fulham again, having been priced out of a switch to Al-Hilal, while Silva is wanted by Al Ahly, with the Saudi outfit allegedly offering him a contract worth £400,000 a week.
The Cottagers, who finished 10th in the Premier League last season, are yet to make a signing this summer, meanwhile, and it would be fair to say that matters off the field are currently overshadowing the start of their pre-season schedule.
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Brentford, meanwhile, opened their preparations for the 2023-24 campaign with a clash against Boreham Wood on July 12, with the two teams playing out a 1-1 draw.
The Bees enjoyed an excellent 2022-23 season, picking up 59 points from their 38 matches to claim ninth in the table, seven points ahead of 10th-placed Fulham, and head coach Thomas Frank therefore has a difficult job to improve on that in the coming campaign.
Brentford will face Fulham, Brighton and Villa in the Premier League Summer Series before returning to England for their final friendly of the summer, which comes against Lille on August 5.
Frank's side will then begin their Premier League season at home to Tottenham on August 13, and it will be fascinating to see how the team perform during the 2023-24 campaign.
The Bees have made three signings so far this summer, bringing in Nathan Collins, Mark Flekken and Kevin Schade, with the latter joining on a permanent basis from Freiburg.
Team News
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Willian signed a new one-year deal with Fulham earlier this week and has made the trip to the United States, with the experienced attacker part of a strong Cottagers squad.
Mitrovic is also present, and it will be fascinating to see what happens with the Serbian, who is seemingly determined to secure a move away from the club this summer.
Head coach Silva is expected to select two different XIs for each half, with Joao Palhinha set to line up in central midfield amid the ongoing speculation surrounding his future.
Brentford, meanwhile, are without the services of star forward Ivan Toney, who was hit with an eight-month ban in May for breaching Football Association betting rules.
The Bees have still travelled to the United States with a strong squad, though, and the likes of Rico Henry, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbuemo are expected to be in the starting side.
There has been widespread speculation surrounding the future of David Raya this summer, but the Spanish goalkeeper remains at the club and is likely to feature in the first XI on Sunday.
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Mbabu, Ream, Diop, Robinson; Palhinha, Reed; Wilson, Cairney, Willian; Vinicius
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Raya; Henry, Collins, Ajer, Hickey; Dasilva, Onyeka, Baptiste, Damsgaard; Mbuemo, Wissa
We say: Fulham 2-2 Brentford
Both teams will view this match as valuable preparation for the new season, and we are expecting an open and entertaining contest. It is always difficult to know exactly what to expect from these type of fixtures, but we are predicting that the spoils will be shared on Sunday.
No Data Analysis info
Matt Law
