How did Fulham do in its opening games?

Fulham’s starts have never been that easy…

In the last 15 years, for its opening games, Fulham had the following record: draw: 40%, loss: 33.3%, and win: 26.7%. Fulham managed to get at least one point in 66,7% of their games.

Unfortunately, Fulham’s numbers in opening games for the last 10 years are worse. Indeed, they lost 40% of their games, representing an increase of 6,7 percentage points, and won only 20% of their games, representing a decrease of 6,7% percentage points.

Fulham is not known for its great starts, but they could do better this year with the three following facts:

1. Good results in the friendly games (3 games, 3 wins against a solid team).
2. A squad that has not changed much. Yes, we know that it is not great. But the good thing is that in the short run, for the start of the season, the players know each other very well and know what to expect from the coach. There is no leakage due to too many signings requiring team build up, team cohesion, and setting up. Brighton, on the contrary, has lost some core players and was active on the transfer market, requiring a transition period.
3. With Marco Silva as head coach, in the last 4 years, Fulham has had a 25% win rate, a 25% loss rate, and a 50% draw rate. Under his tenure, during opening games, we got at least one point 75% of the time. It is true that the sample is low (4 years), but nevertheless remains useful as we have a long-tenured coach.

Fulham is more solid under Marco Silva’s tenure. He knows his squad, so we can expect a draw or more.

Come on, Fulham!