Fabian Hurzeler is expecting an "intense" contest when Brighton and Hove Albion face Fulham in the Premier League on Thursday.
Brighton were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw with bottom side Southampton last Friday but are fourth in the table after 13 rounds of matches.
Fulham are four points behind Brighton after going two games without a win, but Hurzeler is anticipating a tough match at Craven Cottage.
"They are a very good team, good in possession," he said. "They do everything out of compactness and they try to shift and be aggressive.
"It is a very small, tight stadium; the pitch is not the biggest, so it should be quite an intense game."
Hurzeler will have a different vantage point for the match in south London as he is serving a touchline ban after being yellow carded last week.
"Honestly, I trust my team, I trust my staff," he said. "I'm also very convinced that the players will do it on the pitch."
Fulham were stunned 4-1 by lowly Wolves in their most recent home game, which they followed up with a creditable 1-1 draw at Tottenham.
Tom Cairney was sent off and will therefore serve a suspension in the game with Brighton, while Sasa Lukic and Harrison Reed are also out.
Goalkeeper Bernd Leno accepts Fulham will not find things easy against the high-flying Seagulls.
"Brighton are a very good team, very well organised team. It will be a very tough game," he said.
"We'll try to play our game, we'll try to win that game, but Brighton are in a good moment. Hopefully we can keep the points at the Cottage."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Fulham - Harry Wilson
Wilson has been involved in four goals in his past four Premier League appearances against Brighton (two goals and two assists), including a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win for Fulham in this corresponding fixture last season.
The forward has yet to start a league game this season, but he has three goals in nine substitute appearances for Marco Silva's side.
Brighton - Kaoru Mitoma
Mitoma opened the scoring for Brighton in their draw with Southampton, making it goals in back-to-back Premier League games.
The Japan international has more goals (two) in his past two games than he managed in the previous 24 (one) in the competition, but he has never scored in three in a row.
MATCH PREDICTION - FULHAM WIN
Brighton have won three of their six Premier League away games so far this season, which is just one less than they managed in the whole of the 2023-24 campaign.
Fulham have conceded in each of their last 10 Premier League home games, meanwhile, shipping 20 goals in total in this run.
However, the London side are unbeaten in all eight of their Premier League games against Brighton – the joint-most they have faced a side without ever losing (along with Norwich City).
Brighton have also failed to win any of their league visits to Craven Cottage, losing three of those and drawing the other.
Furthermore, Albion are winless in their past nine Premier League away matches against London clubs in their worst-such run since between 1961 and 1967 (10 games).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Fulham - 41.4%
Brighton - 33.8%
Draw - 24.8%
Athletic Bilbao 1-2 Real Madrid: Mbappe penalty miss proves costly
Kylian Mbappe missed a second penalty in the space of a week as LaLiga champions Real Madrid slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Athletic Bilbao.
A week on from missing from the spot against Liverpool in the Champions League, Mbappe again fluffed his lines from 12 yards after Antonio Rudiger had been fouled.
Athletic were leading 1-0 thanks to Alex Berenguer's 53rd-minute effort, but Mbappe's tame effort was easily saved by Julen Agirrezabala.
Madrid did drag themselves level through Jude Bellingham in the 78th minute, yet Athletic were swiftly celebrating a second at the other end.
Federico Valverde gifted the ball to Gorka Guruzeta, who duly struck the winner beyond Thibaut Courtois.
The defeat sees Madrid remain four points behind Barcelona in LaLiga, though Los Blancos do have a game in hand.
Real missed the chance to close the gap on leaders Barcelona who top the standings on 37 points, four ahead of second-placed Real who have a game in hand.
Data Debrief: Mbappe makes a mess of it
Mbappe has now missed two of his five penalties for Madrid in all competitions, and this represents another dent for the France star as he looks to get his career in Spain truly up and running.
Madrid, meanwhile, have now lost five of their last 11 matches in all competitions (W6), suffering one more defeat than in their previous 73 matches (W52 D17 L4).
Bilbao, on the other hand, became the only team to have beaten Madrid and Barcelona in all competitions in 2024.
Embattled O'Neil confident he remains right for Wolves
Gary O'Neil insists he remains the right man to lead Wolves away from trouble, despite Wednesday's chastening 4-0 loss to Everton leaving them mired in the relegation zone.
Wolves could have climbed out of the bottom three with a victory at Goodison Park, but they instead fell to a calamitous defeat to increase the pressure on their under-fire boss.
Craig Dawson scored two own goals after Ashley Young and Orel Mangala had given Everton – who had not scored in their previous four Premier League matches – a 2-0 half-time lead.
Wolves have now conceded 36 goals in 14 Premier League matches this season, their most at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1964-65 (40), when they were relegated.
Their nine defeats this term are also their most at this stage of a top-flight season since 2010-11, and it remains to be seen whether O'Neil will still be in the dugout when they visit West Ham on Monday.
Wolves' travelling fans reacted furiously at the full-time whistle as O'Neil was targeted with chants of, 'you're getting sacked in the morning', but he remains confident in his ability to turn things around.
"I will back myself in any role given to get the most out of the group that we have. In any role," O'Neil said.
"I understand the drive for change from the supporters. You never know how many of them it is or what percentage it is.
"The negative noise is always the loudest.
"Whatever the fans think of me, there's definitely no one working harder than me. I will continue to do so until someone tells me not to.
"I accept full responsibility. I'll work with everything I have and I back myself to get the most of the group."
After facing West Ham – and another under-pressure manager in Julen Lopetegui – Wolves take on Ipswich Town and Leicester City in two more huge relegation six-pointers before Christmas.
Logrones 0-0 Girona (4-3 pens): Visitors suffer shock Copa del Rey exit
Girona were stunned in the second round of the Copa del Rey, as they lost 4-3 on penalties to fourth-tier Logrones.
The two sides played out a 0-0 draw over 120 minutes before Cristhian Stuani missed Girona's final spot-kick, setting up Yasin Iribarren to net a memorable winner for the 10-man hosts.
Girona dominated the opening stages, with Stuani striking the woodwork in the 24th minute, but they could not find a breakthrough.
Neither side managed a single shot on target in normal time, despite Logrones growing in confidence throughout the tie. Jon Madrazo also rattled the frame of the goal in the fourth minute of extra time before Juan Aguero and Gabriel Misehouy tested the goalkeepers at either end.
Sergio Rodriguez picked up two yellow cards in just over three minutes, with his second coming after the half-time whistle for dissent, but the hosts held out for a shoot-out.
After both scoring their opening spot-kicks, Abel Ruiz and Madrazo then saw their penalties saved, but it was Stuani's effort that proved decisive as he struck the woodwork for the second time in the game to seal Girona's fate.
Data Debrief: Girona's wasted chances go begging
Things started well for Girona despite not testing Enrique Royo in the Logrones net, but they struggled to break down a side three divisions below them.
Their first shot on target did not come until the 111th minute, and they only managed one more while facing 10 men, with Juanpe unable to beat the goalkeeper.
The hosts put up a good fight though, and will see their name go into the hat for the third round after an impressive performance against last season's surprise package in LaLiga.
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