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Premier League 2026/27 — Matchweek 3
Fulham badge
Fulham
2
–
3
FT
Crystal Palace badge
Crystal Palace
Saturday 5 September 2026 · 14:00 GMT · 📍 Craven Cottage, London
Full Time

Crystal Palace beat Fulham 3-2 at Craven Cottage, sealed by a late Ben Chilwell winner that sent the away end wild. It was a five-goal thriller with Fulham given every chance to pinch something, only for Chilwell's late intervention to settle it in Palace's favour. That's Palace's first win of the season, lifting them to 9th on 4 points, while Fulham are still searching for their first point after three games and sit in the bottom three at 18th - a tough start for a squad that will feel they're better than this table suggests.

Pre-match Talking Points

Match talking points will appear here before kick-off.

Team Talking Points

Fulham badge
Premier League 2026/27
  • 1
    Fulham drew 1-1 with Newcastle at Craven Cottage on Saturday, and it took a late scramble. Jacob Murphy put Newcastle ahead with a stunner in the 80th minute, before substitute Rodrigo Muniz flicked in an equaliser three minutes later. It was his first Premier League goal in seven months, so the celebration had some feeling behind it.
  • 2
    Head coach Álvaro Arbeloa, the former Real Madrid and Liverpool defender, has Fulham on 10 points from 10 games. That's not thrilling, but they took eight of those points from the last four matches. They go into the break feeling a lot better than they did a month ago.
  • 3
    Odd but true: that was Fulham's first ever Premier League draw at home to Newcastle. It's the kind of trivia that makes you sound like you've got the stats app open under the table.
  • 4
    The reward for that improvement is a trip to Manchester City on 21 November when the league comes back. Expectations will be realistic. Mind you, City just lost 3-1 at Nottingham Forest, so a Fulham fan might be quietly hopeful.
  • 5
    Fulham are one of those clubs that never seem to be in the headlines, which suits them fine. The ground sits right on the Thames and has a 'neutral' section, a genuinely unusual thing in English football. Ask a Fulham fan about it and they'll be delighted someone noticed.
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Top thing to say down the pub Eight points from the last four is decent going. Arbeloa's got Fulham ticking again, and Muniz scoring off the bench never hurts.
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Avoid saying "Fulham? They're just a nice day out by the river" — it's meant kindly, but saying it out loud tells every Fulham fan you think their club's a tourist attraction rather than a football team.
Crystal Palace badge
Premier League 2026/27
  • 1
    Palace go into the international break bottom of the Premier League after a 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. Eddie Nketiah's stoppage-time penalty was a consolation, not a comeback. Being bottom in November isn't fatal, but it is the sort of thing fans prefer you don't mention first.
  • 2
    Manager Pierre Sage is under serious pressure, and the reports this week say his time could be up. Former Brentford and Spurs boss Thomas Frank is the bookies' favourite to replace him, with The Telegraph naming him as the frontrunner. Nothing's official yet, so 'I hear Frank's in the frame' sounds well-informed, while 'Sage has gone' might be a bit premature.
  • 3
    This slump has been building. A 5-0 hammering by Brighton a few weeks ago is the result Palace fans really don't want to relive, mostly because it was Brighton, their fiercest rivals. If you bring it up, expect a long stare.
  • 4
    There were glimmers against Liverpool. Jørgen Strand Larsen had a goal chalked off for offside by VAR and Yeremy Pino hit the crossbar, so it wasn't a total surrender. Palace fans will tell you the margins have gone against them, and on Sunday they had a point.
  • 5
    Don't forget this is the club that won the FA Cup in 2025, their first major trophy ever. Going from Wembley glory to the bottom of the table in about 18 months is a very Premier League kind of whiplash. Mention the Cup win and you'll cheer up any Palace fan instantly.
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Top thing to say down the pub Whoever ends up in the Palace dugout, the first job is just stopping the leaks. They're not as bad as the table says, but they're getting close.
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Avoid saying "Just bring Roy Hodgson back again" — it's been said as a joke so many times that Palace fans have stopped laughing, and the man has done his bit for the club twice over already.

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