Tottenham vs Fulham predicted line-up: Two major changes made as £91m duo miss out

Tottenham Hotspur will be aiming to continue their charge for a top four finish when they face Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday. Ange Postecoglou's men took a huge step towards Champions League qualification with a commanding 4-0 win over Aston Villa last weekend, and could leapfrog the Villans depending on results elsewhere in the coming days.

At the time of writing, Spurs are fifth in the table, and have lost just one of their past five top flight outings. Indeed, that 2-1 loss to Wolves remains their only league defeat of 2024 so far.

Incidentally, Fulham were also beaten 2-1 by Wolves last weekend, with that result preventing Marco Silva's men from picking up a third consecutive top flight victory. The Cottagers have enjoyed a renewed run of form of late, and look to be destined for a comfortable mid-table finish this season, having built up a 14 point cushion between themselves and the relegation zone.

But how will both sides line up at Craven Cottage this weekend? We've taken a closer look at their respective team news and predicted starting XIs below...

Tottenham Team News

Perhaps the biggest deliberation facing Tottenham concerns Richarlison. The Brazilian striker has been sidelined with a knee injury of late, but has openly suggested that he should be fit enough to feature in some capacity against Fulham. Speaking recently about his complaint, he said: 'It’s fine, So, I’m already training, I’ll be on the pitch tomorrow, and I think I’ll be ready for the game next Saturday.'

Elsewhere, there are no concrete indications as to Micky van de Ven's fitness status after he limped off against Aston Villa last weekend, but he is not expected to play on Saturday. Discussing the centre-back, Postecoglou said: 'We're still getting all of the information in. He's unlikely for this weekend, we don't think it's anything major. We'll probably get some more info at the back end of the week.'

Manor Solomon may have to wait until after the international break to make his long-awaited comeback from a knee issue following a setback in his rehabilitation, while deputy goalkeeper Fraser Forster is still out with a fractured foot and Ryan Sessegnon faces a battle to play again this season after undergoing hamstring surgery last month.

Tottenham Predicted XI

Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Radu Dragusin, Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie; Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma; Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Timo Werner; Son Heung-min.

Fulham Team News

By comparison, Fulham are blessed with a relatively clean bill of health heading into the weekend. At the time of writing, it is understood that the Cottagers' only possible absence will be striker Raul Jimenez. The Mexican sustained a hamstring injury against Everton in late January, and has not been seen since, although his manager has hinted that a return could be on the horizon.

Speaking last week, Silva said: 'Raul has been involved in training. It's probably too early for him to be involved. Next week he will be back involved fully fit.' Whether that means the 32-year-old is well enough to play on Saturday still remains to be seen.

Fulham Predicted XI

Bernd Leno; Timothy Castagne, Calvin Bassey, Tosin Adarabioyo, Antonee Robinson; Sasa Lukic, Joao Palhinha; Harry Wilson, Andreas Pereira, Alex Iwobi; Rodrigo Muniz.