I always love watching Noah Sadiki play when I watch Sunderland, he’s got a bit of everything you need to be an effective ball winner in the Premier League and covers a massive amount of ground. He’ll have to do even more work than usual here with his usual midfield partner in Granit Xhaka set to be sidelined for this clash.

Noah Sadiki has committed a foul in three of his last five Premier League appearances, committing multiple fouls in two of these games. He committed a foul in Sunderland’s 1-0 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage earlier in the campaign, and should be in line to commit at least one foul in this latest meeting. Sadiki has committed 18 fouls across his 21 starts in the Premier League this season (0.88 per 90).

Sunderland can be passive at times, but I expect Sadiki to be engaged in quite a tough midfield battle against Emile Smith Rowe who has very clever movement and is sure to lose the Sunderland midfielder on a few occasions. Sunderland committed 13 fouls in the most recent head to head meeting between the sides, a tally above their average of 10.0 fouls committed per game in the Premier League this season.

Harry Wilson was fouled twice in the most recent league meeting between these sides, and has a promising direct opponent again here to draw a few fouls from. Wilson has been Fulham’s best player in the Premier League this season and is particularly strong when it comes to winning fouls, drawing 28 across his 23 appearances in the Premier League this term (1.30 per 90). 

He’ll be running at Cirkin in this clash with Reinildo out injured. Cirkin hasn't featured too regularly for Sunderland this season, but has committed two fouls in the 297 minutes he's played in the Premier League this season. It's also interesting to note that he's as short as 1.17 to commit a foul in this clash, suggesting that he will be in for quite a tough assignment against Wilson.

Sunderland’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in their most recent Premier League game was the first loss that they’ve suffered at the Stadium of Light in the league this season. They’ve been incredibly hard to shift at home this term, netting 21 goals across their 13 matches in front of their own supporters (1.61 per game).

This fits quite well with Fulham’s poor record on the road this season. Marco Silva’s side have only managed to win three of their 13 away matches in the Premier League, losing eight of these games. The most notable part of this record is how vulnerable Fulham have been defensively, they’ve conceded 24 goals across their 13 away fixtures (1.84 per game).

Fulham aren’t particularly strong when it comes to keeping clean sheets in general in the Premier League. They’ve only kept five all season, and have failed to keep the opposition out in each of their last five matches across all competitions - including conceding to Stoke in the FA Cup last time out.

It didn’t take long for me to be impressed with Robin Roefs, he’s settled into the Premier League with ease after joining Sunderland from Nijmegen over the summer. Roefs has been a key part of Sunderland’s success this season, contributing with eight clean sheets and 80 saves across his 26 starts in the Premier League (3.08 per 90).

Roefs has maintained a save percentage of 72.7% across these games, making him one of the most reliable keepers in the league - only Donnarumma (73%) and Emi Martinez (77.4%) have a higher save percentage in the Premier League this season than the Sunderland keeper. Roefs’ total is maybe even more impressive than that of Donnarumma and Martinez when considering the quality of defenders they have in front of them. 

Fulham drew four saves from Roefs when the sides met earlier in the season. It took Marco Silva’s side 84 minutes to break the deadlock, and I think we could see a similar pattern in this game where it takes Fulham time to find a way past the impressive shot stopping abilities of Robin Roefs.

The most recent meeting between the sides produced six match cards, with three going to each team. Trai Hume was shown a yellow card in that clash, operating as a right wing back. Hume has played across that right hand side all season, occasionally starting a little higher up the pitch and also filling in as traditional full back. 

Hume can lose his head very easily regardless of where he plays. He’s picked up seven yellow cards across his 24 starts in the Premier League this season - the most of any Sunderland player. His record is particularly interesting as it has spiked since the turn of the year. Hume has picked up a yellow card in five of his last 10 appearances for Sunderland across all competitions, including picking up a yellow card in Sunderland’s FA Cup triumph over Oxford last time out. 

He’ll have to deal with the threat of Samuel Chukwueze who loves to carry the ball and has drawn nine fouls across his six starts in the Premier League this season (1.27 per 90). Fulham utilise their left hand side quite a lot when building attacks, so it will be a busy part of the pitch which Hume will have to manage throughout the contest.

Raul Jimenez is priced as short as 1.53 to commit 2+ fouls in this clash, so I think it’s better to take him for a card at a much more appealing price. I wouldn’t describe Jimenez as aggressive, but rather clumsy - he falls into challenges and can be quite lazy with his timing.

Jimenez committed three fouls and picked up a yellow card in the most recent meeting between these sides. He was up against a back three in that clash and really struggled with the physicality of Dan Ballard in particular. Regis Le Bris may go with a back three again here, but even if Jimenez is up against a centre back pairing - I think he stands a good chance of picking up a caution.

Jimenez has picked up four yellow cards across his 21 starts in the Premier League this season, from a foul count of 35 (1.83 per 90). I think he’ll resume his physical contest with Ballard and Alderete from the most recent meeting and commit enough fouls to tempt the referee into showing him a card.

Harry Wilson is enjoying his best season to date in the Premier League when looking at his output for Fulham this season. He’s registered 12 goal contributions across his 23 starts for Fulham in the Premier League - representing his best ever goal contribution haul in the division, with over 19 games still remaining.

Wilson was rested for the majority of Fulham’s FA Cup clash against Stoke last time out, so he comes into this game refreshed and ready to add to his goal contribution total in the Premier League. Wilson is Fulham’s top scorer in the Premier League this season with eight goals, and also tops his team rankings for assists suggesting that any joy that Fulham do get here will involve the Welshman.