Week 11 of the English Premier League rounds off with a first win of the season for Huddersfield against a Fulham side that now has an unenviable Premier League record on its resume.
Huddersfield 1 v 0 Fulham
What do you buy a Premier League manager on his third anniversary?
A signed copy of a Beethoven composition?
Tickets to watch the WWE?
How about a top of the range BBQ?
All David Wagner wanted was a win.
And he got it.
When Fulham travelled to the Kirklees Stadium you had the Premier League’s worst defence squaring off against a team that had only scored seven goals at home this calendar year.
It was never going to be a classic, but on the day Wagner celebrated his third anniversary at the club, he told reporters that the 1-0 win was one of the most important during his tenure.
“We were the team that really wanted this win,” Wagner told the press, and it was the right assessment.
Huddersfield controlled the game in the first half, and Philip Billing nearly opened the scoring when he thundered a 30-year drive against the crossbar. Then the moment the Huddersfield fans had been waiting for – the first goal at the Kirklees since April – and it didn’t even come from a player in blue and white.
With 29-minutes on the clock, Fulham cleared Chris Löwe’s corner only for it to fall back at the feet of the German. He tried a second time, and Christopher Schindler tussled with Timothy Fosu-Mensah, and the ball ended up in the back of the net off the head of the Manchester United loanee.
It was the 29th Premier League goal that Fulham had conceded in their opening 11-games, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is a new Premier League record.
Slavisa Jokanovic spent £100m in the summer, in an attempt to avoid the yo-yo effect, and most of that was on attacking talent, but the likes of Andre Schurrle and co were off point on Monday night. Huddersfield surrendered more possession in the second half, but the Londoners never had a sniff.
Huddersfield’s win sees them move off the foot of the division after becoming the final side in the top four divisions of English football to register a victory, and it was their first win in 15-matches.
Fulham replace them in the basement, and Slavisa Jokanovic is now the 4/6 favourite in the betting for the next Premier League manager to leave his position, replacing Mark Hughes who took on the position nobody wanted after Southampton suffered a 6-1 defeat to Man City on Sunday.
Fulham has now lost five in a row, and are the only club in the league to not keep a clean sheet. I expect that run to extend to six matches when they visit Anfield on the weekend. Huddersfield host West Ham.
Results
Newcastle 1 v 0 Watford
Everton 3 v 1 Brighton
West Ham 4 v 2 Burnley
Cardiff 0 v 1 Leicester
Arsenal 1 v 1 Liverpool
Wolves 2 v 3 Spurs
Bournemouth 1 v 2 Man Utd
Man City 6 v 1 Southampton
Chelsea 3 v 1 Crystal Palace
Huddersfield 1 v 0 Fulham
Premier League Table
1. Man City – 29
2. Chelsea – 27
3. Liverpool – 27
4. Spurs – 24
5. Arsenal – 23
6. Bournemouth – 20
7. Man Utd – 20
8. Watford – 19
9. Everton – 18
10. Leicester – 16
11. Wolves – 15
12. Brighton – 14
13. West Ham – 11
14. Crystal Palace – 8
15. Burnley – 8
16. Southampton – 7
17. Newcastle – 6
18. Huddersfield – 6
19. Cardiff – 5
20. Fulham – 5
Premier League Winner Odds
Man City 2/5
Liverpool – 7/2
Chelsea – 10/1
Premier League Relegation Odds
Cardiff 2/5
Huddersfield 4/9
Fulham 4/6
Burnley 13/10
Newcastle 11/4
Top 4 Finish
Man City 1/1000
Liverpool 1/25
Chelsea 1/5
Spurs 8/11
Arsenal 6/5
Man Utd 11/4
Top Goalscorer
Harry Kane – 3/1
Sergio Agüero – 3/1
Mohamed Salah – 11/2
Pierre-Emerick Aubameynag – 7/1
Eden Hazard – 8/1
