More of the same from West Ham against deflated Fulham

West Ham will hop on the bus for a quick ride across London to visit Fulham as the Hammers look to continue their unbeaten streak in December. With nine goals, nine points, and three wins in their last three matches West Ham will need more of the same against a sluggish Fulham team.

Fulham proactively fired their manager Slavisa Jokanovic in recent weeks to try and right the ship out of the relegation zone and to Premier League safety. The move saw Leicester City league winning manager Claudio Ranieri offered the position and a lifeline back into the league.

It would be an understatement to say things haven’t gone as planned for the cottagers under Ranieri, despite winning his first match 3-2 over relegation favorites Southampton. Since then Fulham have lost two and draw one, conceding seven goals while scoring only two.

West Ham have been, for the past few seasons, the team that would bust their opponents out of slumps similar to that of Fulhams, but no more. The solid spine of the Hammers has corrected the course of the ship and is sending the team towards Premier League stability with eyes on European competitions.

What West Ham can do to achieve these goals is take it one match at a time, and for their upcoming opponent Fulham, West Ham need to implement the game plan they used against Newcastle – shutdown their big striker, and stymy their aggressive playmaking midfielders.

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The big is Aleksandar Mitrovic, and much like how Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena shut down Salomon Rondon, they will be needed again to win the aerial duels here. Mitrovic has scored 7 of Fulham’s 16 Premier League goals this season, four of which came from headers. If given space Mitrovic can hurt you with his right foot too, but overall he offers less when it comes to solo play than Rondon, who was previously pocketed by the centre-back duo.

Positioning and aggressiveness helped Diop and Balbuena keep Rondon in check against Newcastle. Mitrovic is a bit nastier and more physical, but he will be isolated in a solo striker position which should allow the defenders to double team him when needed. As well, the offside trap will be needed to force turnovers just as West Ham did incredibly well against the Magpies.

The players in midfield West Ham will need to shut down are Ryan Sessegnon and Andre Schurrle, Fulham’s playmakers and spark plugs.

Sessegnon was pegged for the limelight after an unbelievable season last year in Fulham’s promotion campaign, however with just one goal in 16 matches this season he has been a flop for his team. There is no doubt that the 18-year-old will be a star for club and country in the future and that’s why his skill set, built around his pace, cannot be overlooked in this match. Pablo Zabaleta is coming off of a terrific match shutting down Wilfred Zaha and should be primed to keep Sessegnon quiet as well.

Andre Schurrle was a terrific recruit for Fulham ahead of this season and has contributed five goals so far this season. Arthur Masuaku will have to keep close tabs on this player who likes to drift inside and get central in support of his striker. There should be plenty of support from Rice and Noble in midfield when they’re not pressuring Tom Cairney and Jean-Michael Seri, Fulham’s more central midfielders.

Much like Ayoze Perez and Kenedy from Newcastle, West Ham brought pressure on these attackers and lulled them into the offside trap when they could, forcing errors and turnovers to halt the Newcastle offense. This should be the game plan again in an attempt to disrupt the attack via structure and drilling.

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Fulham have some impressive players I would love to have on West Ham, however, there has been so much turnover and turmoil this season for the club so far that gelling hasn’t happened yet. West Ham need to stay relentless and pounce on a limping Fulham team to stay unbeaten. They have the game plan ready to go, now it’s time to deploy it again.