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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
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1Fulham handed the manager's job to Alvaro Arbeloa this summer — yes, the former Real Madrid and Liverpool right-back — and it has been a brutal start. Three straight defeats, to Chelsea, Sunderland and Crystal Palace, have left them bottom of the table alongside Coventry.
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2Reports out of the club describe genuine unrest — boos at the final whistle against Palace, and pundits already naming Arbeloa as the manager most likely to be sacked first this season. That's a serious level of pressure just three games into a new job.
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3It's a strange one for Fulham, who have spent the last few years as the model of unglamorous, sensible mid-table stability. That reputation is under real pressure for the first time in a while, and nobody at the club looks entirely sure why it's unravelled so fast.
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4They face a Liverpool side still finding its feet under new boss Andoni Iraola, which on paper is a winnable fixture. Fulham haven't looked like a team capable of taking winnable positions so far this season, though, which is the more honest way to frame it.
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5If you want to sound informed, don't just say Fulham are struggling — mention that the dressing room is reportedly uneasy with Arbeloa's confrontational style. That's the actual story here, not just three lost matches.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Fulham fans have gone from mid-table comfort to genuinely nervous about their manager's job security in about three weeks flat.
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Avoid saying
"Fulham are always solid, unspectacular, safe" — that was true for years, but right now they're bottom of the table with a manager reportedly leading the Premier League sack race, so it'll make you sound about a month out of date.
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1Crystal Palace said goodbye to Oliver Glasner this summer, the manager who delivered the best run in the club's history — an FA Cup win, then a Conference League title in his very last game in charge. An almost impossible act to follow.
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2In stepped Pierre Sage from French side Lens, who'd just been named Ligue 1's Manager of the Season. It's been a bumpy start, though — Palace lost his first two games in charge, at Everton and at home to Manchester City.
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3The bigger worry is defensive: Palace have now conceded two or more goals in nine straight league games, an unwanted club record. Bring that up carefully — Palace fans know it already, and they're hoping it's a blip rather than a trend.
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4There are signs of it settling down — a first clean sheet of the season came against Middlesbrough, and Palace went into their next game against Ipswich chasing back-to-back league wins for the first time since December. Small steps, but steps.
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5Palace also sold centre-back Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea for around £52m and used some of that money to bring in Wolves striker Jørgen Strand Larsen. A reminder that Palace's transfer business has got a lot more serious since those two trophies.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Palace won two trophies in six months under Glasner and still can't stop conceding — football doesn't owe anyone a tidy story.
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Avoid saying
"Palace are just plucky underdogs who play for pride" — they've won two actual trophies recently, so that one's embarrassingly out of date now.