It’s a new year and in English football, that means one thing: it’s time for the third round of the FA Cup to get underway. The oldest club competition in the world is ready to welcome the big boys as we continue on the long road to Wembley. Today, we’ll be taking a look at what should be an exciting clash between Fulham and Rotherham United.
Fulham Form GuideWhile they may be working hard to avoid the threat of second season syndrome in the Premier League, Fulham are also battling hard in the League Cup, showing their newly-discovered prowess in cup football. With that in mind, you’d have to imagine they’ll go pretty hard in the paint when it comes to putting out a strong team in a very winnable fixture.
After battering West Ham 5-0, Fulham lost 3-0 to Newcastle before knocking Everton out of the League Cup on penalties. They went on to lose to Burnley and Bournemouth, but in a pretty shocking result, they turned over London rivals Arsenal 2-1 at Craven Cottage.
Rotherham Form GuideRotherham United seem to struggle when it comes to shaking the yo-yo tag. They appear to be too good for League One, but not quite good enough to survive in the Championship. They have another relegation battle on their hands this season and although they’ve got a lot of spirit, it remains to be seen whether or not it’ll be enough to help them in the cup.
Rotherham lost to West Brom, Plymouth and Leicester before a surprising 1-0 win over Middlesbrough helped them steady the ship. Since then, they’ve played out two competitive games with Sunderland and Blackburn, drawing 1-1 and 2-2 respectively.
Match PredictionRotherham are the kind of team who scream “lamb to the slaughter” but in many other instances, that’s led to some great FA Cup upsets - so who knows? If we’re going to put down some money on it, though, we’d have to say that a Fulham win is most likely.
