Fulham vs Bournemouth Odds: Make Mitrovic central to your Friday night bets

Gameweek 21 in the Championship commences with a humdinger in the big smoke as the division's two runaway leaders bout on Friday evening- in front of a sold out Craven Cottage- in a fixture laced with controversy and resentment. 

Only one point separates the second tier’s leaders Fulham from second placed Bournemouth and there are seven points between them and third placed QPR. However, with both sides without a win in each of their last two games it is fair to say that they both have been stuttering as of late.

Prior to their last two league matches, the hosts had averaged 2.3 points per game this season. So by their impressively high standards, two draws against a stubborn Derby side and an inconsistent PNE is below par. It is worth noting that some key personnel, such as the division's top goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrovic and Tom Cairney, were missing for the clash vs Derby with illness and the former looked visibly fatigued for the trip to Deepdale whilst the latter missed out entirely. That being said the Cottagers have only shipped three goals in their last nine domestic matches. 

Despite his squad recently being ravaged by illness, and the disappointing result, Marco Silva will likely field the same XI that faced Preston last Saturday. This will see Fabio Carvalho continue at number ten- with Cairney missing out- flanked by Harry Wilson and Neeskens Kabano with Mitrovic spearheading the attack.

Scott Parker’s side have only won one of their last five, even more telling though is the manner in which they have bottled leads in all three of their most recent matches. Coventry came from two goals down to share the spoils, Benik Afobe equalised for Millwall and a late Tom Lawrence brace ensured they left Derbyshire empty handed. I do not think you can underestimate the physiological impact of this coming into their biggest game of the campaign to date.

Staggeringly, 30% of the goals they have conceded this season have come in these last three games, which you have to assume is directly related to the absence of Gary Cahill and Lloyd Kelly. The pair have built up a solid partnership but were both absent for the Cherries most recent game and the side have not won or kept a clean sheet since they both featured together vs Swansea at the start of the month.

With the pair both doubts here, Lerma suspended and Pearson carrying a knock you have to fear for Parker on his return to London. That being said, with a combined value of over £270million, these squads are hardly short on quality.

I suspect the match will resemble a game of chess at times but expect it to be won in central areas so expect a fascinating battle in midfield as there is simply too much quality for the league with the likes of Seri, Reed, Billing and Kilkenny all expected to feature.

It is also worth noting each side's talisman has 36 goals between them which is a total the hosts can best! Therefore, even though history suggests these top of the table showdowns are usually anti-climaxes it is hard to assume this one will follow suit.

Mitrovic has a goals per 90 average of 0.35 at Championship level and that is from a sample size of 101, therefore, technically any price of over 1.35 would represent value here.

That is not even considering the fact that this one is personal for Mitro as he faces his old arch nemesis; Scott Parker. During the EPL season, Parker Cast out the striker into the cold, however, he forgot one thing, Serbians thrive in the cold.

Now Mitrovic is back in the Fulham XI and he is on fire and this bitter narrative will only add fuel to that and with the added motivation is one thing the Serbian does not need. 

He’ll have a point to prove.

It is also worth noting that, as already alluded to, Cahill and Kelly are doubts. So this bet backs the division's inform striker, with a motive, against a weakened defence. 

During his time at Craven Cottage, Parker assembled an outrageously talented bombsquad in their Premier League campaign as he austricised the likes of Mitrovic, Kebano, Knockaert, Seri and more.

With the majority of which all likely to feature here, you would imagine they will be doubly motivated to get one over their predecessor and if there is one player that does not need any fuel adding to their fire it is the big Serbian uptop for the hosts, as he has been in flames all season long.

As previously alluded to, he is in fine form in front of goal, but the frontman is also more than capable of boiling over. When Steve McClaren signed him for Newcastle he said that he had ‘a bit of the devil in him’ and with 58Y and 5R cards to his name this has certainly proved to be the case.

Given the occasion here, and the added motivation of facing an old foe, I think the price of combining a goal with a card is worth a punt. I will be having 0.75pts on it.

Tim Robinson has the whistle for this one and given the fact that he is one of the most card happy referee’s the division has to offer, I would be a fool not to plump some sort of card bet for a game of this magnitude. Therefore, I have combined the most likely candidates here.

Best of luck if you are backing any of these selections and please remember to gamble responsibly.