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Fulham and Newcastle United drew 1-1 at Craven Cottage in Matchweek 10, with both goals arriving in a three-minute burst late on. Jacob Murphy put Newcastle ahead in the 80th minute with a cracker, and Rodrigo Muniz levelled for Fulham in the 83rd. Newcastle also had a goal ruled out earlier for a shirt pull in the build-up, and Fulham had most of the ball and still could not find a winner. Newcastle move to roughly 12 points from 10 games and stay mid-table; Fulham reach 10 points from 10 and remain stuck in the bottom half, with that long wait for a proper run of wins going on.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Two sides stuck in the dull middle of the table. Newcastle are 12th on 11 points, Fulham 14th on 9, and Fulham are only a point or so clear of the bottom group. Win and you can start glancing upwards. Lose and you're checking who's below you. Newcastle will also quite like not extending a run of 14 goals conceded in their last seven games.
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2Newcastle arrive off a 1-0 home defeat to Everton, which is the sort of result that makes a fanbase start drafting angry group chats. Fulham drew 1-1 at Aston Villa last time out. Craven Cottage is a lovely ground by the river, and Newcastle will want to leave it with something other than a nice view.
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3Player to watch: Oscar Bobb. He's the one Fulham keep leaning on for goals, and he's been popping up with late winners this season. If you want a name to drop when the match is tight at 70 minutes, that's the one. For Newcastle, keep an eye on whoever gets handed the midfield, because it's about to be reshuffled.
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4The subplot is Newcastle's midfield. Jacob Ramsey is suspended after being sent off against Everton, and Joelinton is also out, so Newcastle are patching up the middle of the park. There are also reports of pressure on the manager despite board backing. Fulham get Ryan Sessegnon back from suspension, though Tom Cairney is still injured.
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5The hook: previews can't agree on anything. Some tip a 1-1 draw, some a Fulham win, and plenty point to under 2.5 goals. Which is football-speak for 'nobody has any idea'. Both teams are mid-table and a bit wobbly, so it's a good one to have on in the background while you do something else, then look up when somebody shouts.
Team Talking Points
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1Fulham 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.
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2Head 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.
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3Odd 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.
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4The 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.
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5Fulham 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.
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1Newcastle's last game was a 1-1 draw at Fulham. Jacob Murphy scored a 25-yard screamer, and it lasted all of three minutes before Rodrigo Muniz equalised. Muniz hadn't scored in 15 months, which made it extra annoying.
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2They also had a Dan Burn goal ruled out after VAR spotted a foul by Yoane Wissa in the build-up. Manager Matthias Jaissle called it 'soft' and said his side did enough to win. Agree that it was soft and you'll make a friend for life.
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3Jaissle also called the draw 'a step in the right direction after the last performance'. That tells you the last performance wasn't great. Newcastle sit roughly mid-table on 12 points from 10 games, about four points clear of the drop zone and four off the top six.
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4That puts them in a very Premier League kind of limbo: not in trouble, not in contention. A couple of wins and the talk is Europe. A couple of defeats and people start looking nervously over their shoulders.
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5The first game back after the break is a big one. Leaders Arsenal visit St James' Park on Saturday 21 November. A win there would change the mood around the club overnight, and fans know it.
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Top thing to say down the pub
If VAR hadn't chalked off Dan Burn's goal at Fulham, we'd be talking about the top six, not 'a step in the right direction'.
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Avoid saying
"Newcastle are the richest club in the world, they should be winning everything." Fans have heard it a thousand times. Spending rules mean the money hasn't turned into the trophy-a-season machine people imagine, so you'll get a long lecture on profit and sustainability.