Fulham boss Marco Silva will not underestimate Ipswich Town when his side travel to Portman Road to face the Premier League new boys on Saturday.
Fulham have three points from their first two games of 2024-25, slipping to a narrow matchday one defeat at Manchester United before bouncing back with a 2-1 win over Leicester City.
Their next outing comes against another newly promoted side in Kieran McKenna's Ipswich, who have started life in the top flight with losses to Liverpool (2-0) and Manchester City (4-1).
Silva, though, expects them to put up a real fight on home soil, hailing McKenna for instilling a winning mentality at the club.
"I expect a really tough game," Silva said. "They have an unbelievable winning mentality from the last two seasons.
"When you are promoted the way they were from League One to the Championship, and then from the Championship to the Premier League, I have to say that is unbelievable.
"They've played two really tough games against Liverpool and City but the first game of the season was a really tough one for Liverpool; the way they played, the atmosphere. It was a solid start for them except for the result.
"The environment will be the same – really big support for the home side and it'll be a tough game."
Ipswich were unable to foster any positivity in midweek as they were dumped out of the EFL Cup on penalties by fourth-tier AFC Wimbledon, as McKenna made 10 changes to his starting lineup.
He defended that approach while looking ahead to Saturday's game, saying: "I think it was the right thing to do. Going out of the cup isn't good, we're disappointed for the supporters, we wanted to progress, but it's really, really clear what our priorities are this season.
"I think the new players are further now in their understanding of how to play with each other.
"I think we learned a fair bit about the strengths of them and the minutes in the legs will be very important. Hopefully that will help us in the next few weeks."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ipswich Town – Sam Szmodics
Szmodics netted on his first Premier League start on matchday two, scoring the opener in Ipswich's 4-1 defeat to City.
The last Ipswich player to score on his first two Premier League starts was Adam Tanner in January 1995.
Fulham – Andreas Pereira
Fulham midfielder Pereira has created 13 chances in the Premier League this season, six more than any other player.
It is the most by any player in a team's opening two games in a Premier League season since 2012-13, when Leighton Baines also created 13 for Everton.
MATCH PREDICTION – FULHAM WIN
The only previous Premier League meetings between Ipswich and Fulham came in the 2001-02 season, with the Tractor Boys remaining unbeaten against the Cottagers that campaign (1-1 away, 1-0 at home).
Fulham, however, have won their last four league meetings with Ipswich, with this the first clash between the teams since a 4-1 home win in January 2018. The Cottagers had been winless in nine league games against them before this run (three draws, six losses).
Only in 1949-50, 1956-57 (both in the third division south) and 2006-07 (Championship) have Ipswich lost their first three matches to start a league season, but that fate could await them here.
Fulham have won four of their last eight away Premier League games (two draws, two defeats), having gone 11 without a victory before this run began (four draws, seven losses).
Neutrals should expect entertainment: Since Fulham drew 0-0 with Newcastle United in 2010, none of their 40 Premier League games against newly promoted teams have been goalless, with 141 goals scored in those contests, an average of 3.5 per match.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Ipswich Town – 32.9%
Fulham – 41.1%
Draw – 26%
Liverpool 'not good enough' in Forest defeat, says furious Slot
Arne Slot slammed Liverpool's performance after their perfect start to his reign came crashing to a halt with Saturday's surprise 1-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.
Callum Hudson-Odoi's deflected second-half strike proved decisive as Forest earned their first league victory at Anfield in 55 years, having last triumphed on the ground against Bill Shankly's Reds in 1969.
Liverpool's 14 shots throughout the game gave them a total expected goals (xG) figure of just 0.87, with only five of those attempts forcing Matz Sels into action.
The Reds boasted a 69.6% possession share but only marginally beat Forest's 56 final-third entries with 70 of their own, leaving Slot to bemoan their lethargic play in possession.
"The result frustrates me the most and we cannot be happy about how the game went. It was a stop-start game and we hardly created any chances," Slot told BBC Sport.
"We only have to look at ourselves, we have to be better. Far too many times we lost the ball around the area, it was not good enough. We have to be better with the ball.
"Our decisions and execution weren't good enough.
"In general, we defended quite well but the two fast players came on and made it difficult for us. We took a lot of risks and in the end it was a very good goal."
Liverpool have now lost two of their last five Premier League matches at Anfield (three wins), having only lost one of their previous 58 before this run.
Forest, meanwhile, have won four straight away Premier League matches for the first time since 1995, and they sit just one point behind Liverpool in the early-season standings.
Boss Nuno Espirito Santo was delighted with their defensive work, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: "Liverpool are such a good team, it required a lot of effort from the players... the organisation, tackling and the covering.
"The only way to achieve anything here is if you are organised and do everything that you can.
"When you start the way we started with our wingers, Nico Dominguez and Elliot Anderson – all the effort of them tracking Liverpool's full-backs, it is a lot of energy.
"We are working hard and it is about building and believing in this idea that you can develop."
Liverpool 0-1 Nottingham Forest: Hudson-Odoi provides reality check for Slot
Callum Hudson-Odoi's goal gave Nottingham Forest their first league victory at Anfield in 55 years and ended Liverpool's perfect start to life under Arne Slot on Saturday.
Substitute Hudson-Odoi scored the only goal of the game after 72 minutes, capping a lightning Forest counterattack with a curling strike that deflected in off Ibrahima Konate.
Liverpool had earlier gone close through Luis Diaz as he struck the base of the post in the first half, but they struggled to pose Nuno Espirito Santo's men too many problems in a flat display.
The defeat, which comes after impressive shutout victories over Ipswich Town, Brentford and Manchester United, means Liverpool have lost early ground on Manchester City, who now boast a three-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Forest, meanwhile, remain unbeaten in 2024/25 and move up into fourth place with eight points, just one behind Saturday's opponents, who stay second.
Luis Diaz had the first real chance of the match when he rattled the post after 16 minutes, dispossessing Ryan Yates at the byline before cutting inside from the left and seeing his shot bounce clear off the woodwork.
Matz Sels almost caused Forest's undoing just before half-time as he spilled Diaz's looping header, but it was his team-mate Hudson-Odoi who got the eventual winner.
Cutting inside from the left, he bent an effort towards the far corner, with a deflection off Konate carrying it out of Alisson's reach to condemn Liverpool to defeat.
Data Debrief: Forest end Anfield hoodoo
It is the first time Nottingham Forest have won away at Liverpool in the league since winning 2-0 against Bill Shankly's side in 1969.
It is also the first time Forest manager Nuno has achieved Premier League victory against Liverpool, having lost his previous seven meetings with them.
Since the start of last season, meanwhile, winning goalscorer Hudson-Odoi (four) is third only to Phil Foden (six) and Eberechi Eze (five) for goals scored from outside the box in the top flight.
Brighton 0-0 Ipswich: Muric heroics hands Tractor Boys a point
Brighton's unbeaten start to the Premier League season continued, but they were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Ipswich Town and inspired goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.
The Seagulls could not make their dominance count as their newly promoted opponents showed spirit and resilience to earn their first away point back in the Premier League on Saturday.
Muric kept Ipswich in the contest with a series of excellent saves to deny Brighton in a one-sided first half.
Ipswich carried more of a counter-attacking threat after half-time, and Liam Delap nearly shocked the Amex Stadium when his strike hit the post following a powerful run.
Brighton kept pushing for a breakthrough goal at the other end, but Ipswich held on and are just outside of the relegation zone, with their hosts staying third behind Manchester City and Liverpool.
Data Debrief: You shall not pass
This was Brighton’s 27th goalless draw in the Premier League, three more than any other side since they were promoted to the division in 2017.
The Seagulls had 21 shots against Ipswich, their most without scoring in a single Premier League home game since February 2023 against Fulham (also 21).
Fabian Hurzeler's side managed six shots on target, all of which were met with the gloves of Muric, who made six saves to hand the Tractor Boys their second point of the season.
But there will be cause for concern at the top end of the pitch. Ipswich didn’t register a single shot in the first half – it’s the first time they’ve not had a shot in the opening 45 minutes of a league match since March 2020 against Fleetwood Town in League One.
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