During the World Cup break, Marco Silvatook his Fulham squad – without the presence of six players competing in Qatar – to his native Portugal for a week’s long mid-season training camp in the Algarve.
The Cottagers took part in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Primeira Liga outfit Portimonense on December 4 and secured a 3-2 victory, courtesy of a Callum McFarlane brace and a header from Layvin Kurzawa.
Fulham returned back home on Monday, with the majority of their World Cup representatives reporting back to first-team training ahead of their Premier League return on Boxing Day against Crystal Palace.
Silva’s side failed to win each of their last three top-flight matches before the World Cup break, but they remain inside the top half of the table, sitting ninth and just two points behind the European positions.
Fulham will now be looking to build up their match fitness and put in a strong showing on Saturday against West Ham, who they lost 3-1 against at the London Stadium at the beginning of October.
West Ham headed into the World Cup break off the back of a disappointing run of form, losing four of their last five matches across all competitions including each of their last three in the Premier League.
However, David Moyes’s side have regained their confidence during their mid-season preparations with back-to-back wins over Cambridge United and Udinese, beating the former 4-2 at Abbey Stadium on December 6 before securing a 3-1 victory away against the latter last Saturday.
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Indeed, West Ham made their first-ever trip to Udine last weekend and strikes from Said Benrahma, Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio helped the Hammers come from behind to defeat their Italian counterparts.
Moyes’s men – who currently sit 16th in the Premier League table and just one point above the relegation zone – will now be looking to build on their positive momentum with one final warm-up triumph over Fulham, a side they are unbeaten against in their last five meetings, before their return to top-flight action against league leaders Arsenal on Boxing Day.
Fulham duo Aleksandar Mitrovic and Joao Palhinha are unlikely to feature on Saturday following their World Cup exploits, while Daniel James, Harry Wilson, Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson have all trained and will be pushing to feature.
Manor Solomon has also returned to training having missed the majority of the season with a knee injury and the Israeli winger will hope to get some minutes under his belt against West Ham. Neeskens Kebano, meanwhile, remains out after rupturing his Achilles before the World Cup
