Fulham and Stoke City put their unbeaten records on the line when they meet in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
Both clubs have collected three wins and a draw from their opening four fixtures, the Cottagers only sitting at the top of the standings on goal difference.
Match preview
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Ahead of a return to the second tier, there would have been some Fulham supporters who had reservations about the appointment of Marco Silva.
However, after an indifferent start against Middlesbrough, the West Londoners have put together a four-match winning streak in all competitions, scoring 11 goals in the process.
While thrashing Huddersfield Town by a 5-1 scoreline remains the standout result, Silva will be pleased with how his side have dispatched Millwall, Hull City and Birmingham City respectively.
The latter result in the EFL Cup came with three prospects in the side, Jay Stansfield marking his first start for the club with a brilliantly-taken opener at St Andrew's.
Silva will revert back to his senior players for a game against potential title rivals, but the impact that they made on Tuesday evening only bodes well for the future.
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As far as Stoke are concerned, Michael O'Neill worked wonders during the off-season to put together a squad which appears capable of challenging the best teams in the league.
The money brought in from the sale of Nathan Collins has been used to make five shrewd additions, and the ambition in the market has been rewarded with as many wins and a draw in all competitions.
Although promotion remains their sole priority this season, O'Neill will take encouragement from an entirely different team defeating Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Cup second round.
Six different players have already gotten on the scoresheet in the Championship, and last week's 1-0 triumph over Nottingham Forest came without top goalscorer Nick Powell in the side.
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Team News
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Fulham are sweating on the fitness of Kenny Tete, Tim Ream and Fabio Carvalho after they all sustained injuries against Hull.
Bobby Decordova-Reid, Alfie Mawson and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa are ready to deputise if Silva is forced into any changes.
Stoke boss O'Neill will almost certainly name the 11 players which started against Forest last weekend.
However, Sam Surridge put himself in contention for a recall with a goal against Doncaster in midweek.
O'Neill has revealed that Powell will remain on the sidelines until after the international break.
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Gazzaniga; Reid, Adarabioyo, Mawson, Robinson; Onomah, Seri; Kebano, Carvalho, Cavaleiro; Mitrovic
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Bursik; Ostigard, Souttar, Wilmot; Smith, Clucas, Allen, Vrancic, Tymon; Fletcher, Brown
We say: Fulham 2-1 Stoke City
Stoke are well rested from last weekend and will fancy their chances of outfighting their hosts on Saturday. However, we feel that Fulham's marginal extra threat in the final third will make all the difference, leading us to predict a narrow home win.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Fulham win with a probability of 48.44%. A draw had a probability of 27.7% and a win for Stoke City had a probability of 23.85%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fulham win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.61%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.99%) and 2-1 (8.68%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.7%), while for a Stoke City win it was 0-1 (9.3%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 4.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Fulham would win this match.
