Fulham v Leicester City Betting Tips: Home is where the heart is

Marco Silva’s Fulham will be looking to start the season in front of their own fans with 3 points when Steve Cooper’s Leicester visit on Saturday. The Championship champions from last season will more than likely find things tougher going in the Premier League as they try to establish themselves as a top-flight team again.

For those who saw Monday Night Football, The Foxes could indeed have been 3 or 4 down by half-time and a sloppy start at the Cottage could be fatal.

Home comforts at Craven Cottage

Fulham were unfortunate in their narrow opening game defeat at Old Trafford last Friday and I feel they will fancy themselves to get off the mark with a win against The Foxes. Cooper lost 5-0 on his last visit to Fulham as Nottingham Forest manager last December and clearly won’t want a repeat result from his Leicester side.

Fulham had the 10th-best home record during the 2023/2024 season. They won 9 of their Premier League games at home and were profitable to back at level stakes.

Silva’s men gained 62% of their total points in home games last season, accumulating 29 of their total 47 points tally. With The Cottagers scoring 56% of their goals last season at Craven Cottage (31 of 55 goals), I feel they will continue this home habit against a Leicester side who looked very dodgy in the first half on Monday.

Midfield merry-go-round

The key to the fixture I think is in the midfield and Fulham have captured the signing of midfielder Sander Berge from Burnley as they look to replace the loss of Joao Palhinha, who departed for Bayern Munich during the summer. Berge would certainly bolster the centre of Fulham’s midfield.

As well as adding creativity going forward, he could break up play and allow the likes of wingers Adama Traore and Alex Iwobi to express themselves further up the pitch. In turn, this could allow attacking wing-backs Antonee Robinson and Kenny Tete to advance in Silva’s familiar style of play.

Home debut for club record signing Smith-Rowe

Club record signing Emile Smith-Rowe looks set to make his home debut this weekend after starting at United last time out. The £34m signing will look to add to his goals through pre-season in Fulham colours.

He could help fire Silva’s team to victory in this one and the odds of 4/5 with QuinnBet are quite appealing.

Dewsbury-Hall a big loss to the Foxes

By contrast, The Foxes lost instrumental midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea during pre-season and have yet to replace him. With the void in midfield not being filled, Dewsbury Hall’s creativity and goals from there will certainly be a miss for Cooper’s team.

Winks played well against Spurs in general, and did look to play forward passes where possible, but he can’t win this midfield battle alone. I want to single out Jamie Vardy for praise - Mars bars and Red Bull are clearly still working. Tireless running despite carrying an injury and a nice finish was topped off with a wind-up to the Spurs’ faithful as he was subbed off on Monday night.

Bigger odds for our best bet

Rather than just betting on the aforementioned Fulham in the 1x2 market, I think we can find a bigger-priced way to get behind Silva’s men. I’ve mentioned the first half of Leicester’s season opener, and with that in mind, I am happy to back Fulham to get ahead early and stay there by winning half-time/full-time at 15/8 with bet365.

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Fulham v Leicester Best Bet

Best Bet

• Market: Half-time/Full-time
• Selection: Fulham/Fulham
• Odds: 15/8
• Stake: 0.75pt
• Bookie: bet365

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