Second will welcome fourth in the Championship on Tuesday night as Fulham head to West Bromwich Albion for what is a huge clash in the second tier of English football.
West Brom are currently three points behind leaders Leeds United with three games left, while Fulham occupy fourth in the table, five points behind the Baggies in the race for automatic promotion.
Match preview
© Reuters
West Brom are in a brilliant position to earn promotion back to the Premier League, currently sitting three points clear of third-placed Brentford, meaning that their destiny is very much in their own hands.
The Baggies were held to a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon, though, and then fell three points off the summit when Leeds United struck late to beat Swansea City on Sunday.
Leeds are now in charge of the title race, but Slaven Bilic's side would certainly welcome second position as they bid to return to the Premier League for the 2020-21 campaign.
West Brom lost at Brentford towards the end of last month but have won three of their last four in the Championship, including a 2-0 success over Derby County in their last game at the Hawthorns.
Bilic's team have only lost three of their 21 Championship games on home soil this season, but Fulham's away record is strong, losing just five of their 21 matches, picking up 32 points in the process.
© Reuters
In all honesty, it is difficult to imagine Fulham claiming a top-two position at this stage as they sit five points behind second-placed West Brom, meaning that a lot would need to go their way in order to finish in the automatic promotion spots.
Scott Parker's side are comfortably inside the top six, though, and will, at the very least, have the chance to earn a return to the Premier League through the playoffs.
The Cottagers lost to Brentford and Leeds in their first two matches after the lockdown period but their form since the end of June has been terrific.
Indeed, the capital side have beaten Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City in their last four games to put four huge victories on the board.
Fulham and West Brom played out a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage earlier this season, while 1-1 was also the scoreline when they last met at the Hawthorns during the 2013-14 Premier League season.
West Brom Championship form: DLWWWD
Fulham Championship form: LLWWWW
Team News
© Reuters
West Brom will again be without the services of Kieran Gibbs due to a hamstring problem, while a knee injury is likely to rule Nathan Ferguson out of contention once again.
Bilic otherwise has a full squad to choose from, though, and the likes of Hal Robson-Kanu and Grady Diangana are both knocking on the door when it comes to starts.
Charlie Austin should keep his spot at the tip of the attack, however, with Matheus Pereira, who has scored eight times and provided 20 assists in 39 Championship appearances this season, featuring out wide.
As for Fulham, aside from Tom Cairney, Parker's squad is in excellent shape at the moment in terms of injuries, meaning that the Englishman has a number of decisions to make when it comes to team selection.
Ivan Cavaleiro could be in contention for a spot in the XI, but there is a chance that it could be same again from the Cardiff clash, with Josh Onomah again featuring in an advanced position.
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored his 24th Championship goal of the season against Cardiff on his return from suspension and will again lead the line for the visitors.
West Brom possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; O'Shea, Ajayi, Barkley, Townsend; Livermore, Saywers; Pereira, Krovinovic, Grosicki; Austin
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Christie, Hector, Ream, Bryan; Reed, Arter; Reid, Onomah, Knockaert; Mitrovic
We say: West Brom 1-1 Fulham
West Brom will be desperate to return to winning ways as they chase down Leeds at the summit, but Fulham have won their last four in the Championship, impressing in the process. We are expecting a tight game at the Hawthorns and are struggling to separate them, therefore backing a 1-1 draw.
Matt Law
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 West Bromwich Albion win with a probability of 48.76%. A win for Fulham had a probability of 25.95% and a draw had a probability of 25.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Bromwich Albion win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.27%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.39%) and 2-0 (8.8%). The likeliest Fulham win was 0-1 (7.71%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.03%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 7.2% likelihood.
