Fulham vs Crystal Palace team news, likely line-ups, prediction and preview as the Cottagers return to top flight
Palace haven't beaten Fulham since 2004 and their last victory at Craven Cottage came in 1986
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FULHAM embark on their return to the Premier League with a clash against London rivals Crystal Palace.
Eagles boss Roy Hodgson returns to his former club eight years after leaving the Cottagers on the back of having just signed a new contract.
The hosts will have plenty of new faces on show including former Chelsea man Andre Schurrle as Palace look to beat their rivals for the first time in 14 years.
Rivalries aside
Hodgson returns to the club he left for Liverpool in 2010.
The former England manager took Fulham from the brink of relegation to one match away from becoming Europa League champions.
He received a warm reception when he returned as manager of Baggies and it is set to be the same again today.
Key man
Ryan Sessegnon has the ability to get Fulham off to a winning start.
The hosts kept hold of the 18-year-old despite interest from more reputable Premier League clubs following his stunning season in the Championship.
It will be a step up in quality for Sessegnon but the arrival of Schurrle will only encourage him to perform to his best.
Likely line-ups
Fulham: Fabri, Fosu-Mensah, Chambers, Ream, Bryan, McDonald, Cairney, Michael Seri, Schurrle, Sessegnon, Mitrovic.
Palace: Guaita, Ward, Sakho, Tomkins, Van Aanholt, Milivojevic, McArthur, Kouyate, Townsend, Zaha, Benteke
Look ahead to the weekend
The stat that matters
Palace fans will need to go back to 2004 when they last beat their London rivals.
Fulham had Edwin van der Sar between the sticks as goals from Andrew Johnson and Aki Riihilahti sealed a 2-0 win.
The last time Palace won at Craven Cottage was a 3-2 win in 1986.
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What the bosses said
Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic after seeing 12 new players arrive at Craven Cottage: "I am not Santa, I don’t need to make anyone happy.
"I try to make it hard and great competition between my players and this is most competitive league in the world and there doesn’t exist any present or something like this."
Palace's Roy Hodgson: "We have 38 tough games to come, the moment we start kidding ourselves its not going to be that way will be a major mistake.
"And in particular playing a team like Fulham, who have been out of the league for four years, but have now come back to the place where I believe they belong, so it will be a big occasion with a fantastic atmosphere and we will be put to a severe test that day."
Prediction
Fulham 2 Crystal Palace 1