Aleksandar Mitrovic remains absent as Fulham host West Ham in a Premier League London derby today.
The Serbian talisman was missing for last weekend’s 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Bournemouth after being sent off for shoving referee Chris Kavanagh during an epic meltdown in the FA Cup quarter-final loss at Manchester United before the international break.
Mitrovic has subsequently been handed an eight-match ban by an independent commission and fined £75,000 for his behaviour at Old Trafford - three for the red card itself, another three for violent conduct and two more for using “improper, abusive, insulting and threatening” language, with one of those already served on the south coast.
The Football Association (FA), however, feel his suspension was too lenient and stated an intention to appeal both that and the two-game touchline suspension handed to Fulham boss Marco Silva for his own sending off against United.
Former Tottenham loanee Carlos Vinicius led the line for Fulham against Bournemouth with Mitrovic out and will be expected to do so again this weekend, though Silva may be tempted to make other changes after a shock loss at the Vitality Stadium.
Willian returns after serving his own one-match suspension for being sent off against United, though long-term absentees Neeskens Kebano and Layvin Kurzawa remain sidelined.
Under-fire manager David Moyes was coy on West Ham’s injury situation at his latest press conference, saying only that his players had a light recovery session on Thursday after their embarrassing 5-1 home thrashing by Newcastle on Wednesday night and would know more after training on Friday.
The Hammers’ only known absentee at present is striker Gianluca Scamacca, who is rehabbing a knee problem and won’t make the short trip from east to west London.
Predicted Fulham XI: Leno, Cedric, Tosin, Ream, Robinson, Reed, Palhinha, Decordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian, Vinicius
Predicted West Ham XI: Fabianski, Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Bowen, Fornals, Antonio, Ings
