Fulham need a victory in order to make it to Europa League knockout rounds and the Cottagers should have an easy job against bottom-placed Odense. The Danes are already out of contention for the top two places in the group, but they are, nonetheless, looking to spoil the party for the hosts.

Inconsistency remains the problem

Once considered one of the main candidates for the drop, Fulham have established themselves as genuine top table side over the years and they are even becoming regular in European competitions. Former Tottenham boss Martin Jol arrived to Craven Cottage at the start to the season in order to help keep the club in the top half of the Premier League standings, but the Dutch manager has been struggling to get the maximum out of his players. The Cottagers remain a real force to be reckoned with at home, where they are capable of beating even much stronger opponents, as witnessed by their 1:0 victory over Liverpool, but Martin Jol cannot seem to find the solution for team’s poor away form. The Cottagers did record three away victories this season, beating Crusaders, OB Odense and Wigan, so they should now have an easy job against the Danes at their Craven Cottage. Realizing that a win would take his side into the next stage, Martin Jol is expected to field a strong side and home win should never come into question.

Andrew Johnson is suspended after seeing red against Twente, but Bobby Zamora and Aaron Hughes should return to the starting line-up.

Domestic season finished ten days ago

After winning the Danish Superligaen title last season, OB entered the Champions League qualifying rounds and they surprisingly managed to eliminate Panathinaikos before losing to Villarreal in the next qualifying round. The Danes started the Europa League campaign with an impressive away win over Wisla Krakow, but that soon proved to be a one-off result as Odense lost next four games in the competition. The team finished the first part of the league campaign in 8th place out of 12 teams, picking up just 25 points from 18 games, having been unable to rediscover the form that had served them so well the previous season. OB are already out of contention for a place in the next round and after their domestic season finished some ten days ago, the players will be looking forward to ending the first part of the season and going on holiday.

Coach Henrik Clausen has no fresh injury worries, but having the courtesy of choosing from a fully fit squad is unlikely to be of big help.

Verdict

Having already beaten the same opponent 2:0 away from home, Fulham are expected to record another comfortable victory over the side that lost last four European games. The Cottagers will be looking to finish the job early on, so that they could remain fresh for the Premier League clash with Bolton and the tie should be effectively over before the half-time break.

Our prediction: Fulham to score in both halves

Odds: 1.88 (8/9)

Bookmaker: Unibet