Fulham’s home form under Roy Hodgson was key to their success in recent seasons; 36 of their 46 points last term came at home, as well as 8 of their 12 clean sheets. Despite the change in manager over the summer, the pattern this season hasn’t changed. They have picked up a respectable 9 points in five home games so far, but are still without a win away from home.
Thankfully, Fulham have the luxury of three home games in the next four, and begin their kind run of fixtures by playing host to Man City, who despite their wealth of attacking talent have struggled to find the net recently. Another home game follows with a visit from struggling Birmingham, then Arsenal away, before another home game against Sunderland. We can probably expect at least one, maybe even two clean sheets from this run, and so the likes of Salcido, Hughes and Hangeland are now firmly on our radar.
While Aaron Hughes and Stephen Kelly offer cheaper routes into the Fulham defence, the crown jewel in the Fulham defense is surely Brede Hangeland. His aerial ability and confidence on the ball has attracted the attention of several big name clubs over the years, with good reason. It’s not just his defensive qualities that make him such an appealing Fantasy prospect though, his strength in the air means he goes up for most corners and set pieces and has bagged two goals already this season as a result.
While Hangeland may not be the most exciting of picks, he offers a level of consistency that seems so hard to come by this season. Along with Aaron Hughes, Hangeland has played every minute of every game so far, and with so many other defenders nursing injuries or at risk of rotation due to European commitments, his reliability and kind fixtures make him a very smart choice right now. While 5.6 may seem like a lot of money to spend on a Fulham defender, as with Gary Cahill at Bolton, sometimes it makes sense to pay that little bit extra for potential at both ends of the field with the potential for Bonus Points thrown in.
