FULHAM VS SOUTHAMPTON: PREVIEW

Claudio Ranieri takes his first game in charge of Fulham, as they host fellow strugglers Southampton at Craven Cottage.

Ranieri was appointed as the boss of Fulham earlier in the month, following Slaviska Jokanovic's sacking.

The Italian has been out of a job ever since being sacked by Leicester City, despite winning the Premier League the season before.

Source: Sky Sports

Southampton will be hoping the international break would have done their players some good, following their underwhelming start to the season.

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TEAM NEWS -

Joe Bryan is available for Fulham again after recovering from a hamstring injury, but Ranieri thinks 90 minutes would be too much for the full-back.

Kevin McDonald and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa are both still sidelined through injuries.

Southampton forward Danny Ings looks a doubt with a muscle problem.

However, Saints duo Mohamed Elyounoussi and Mario Lemina look to be fit after minor injuries and left-back Ryan Bertrand is suspended.

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THE MANAGERS -

New Fulham boss Ranieri has revealed his plans to "tinker clever" at Craven Cottage as he bids for survival with the Cottagers.

"I am Tinkerman, but I tinker clever," Ranieri, who was known as the 'Tinkerman' at Chelsea because of his constant changes to the team.

Source: Evening Standard

"It's important to maintain the same line-up for some matches but you never know, I want everybody available and then I can choose.

"I have shown them some videos from the previous game and said what is right and what is wrong.

"One thing is to watch, but after we have been on the pitch to repeat the movement and slowly, slowly they get better."

If Southampton were to lose on Saturday, then the Saints would drop into the bottom three; meaning Mark Hughes is under real scrutiny, but the boss is remaining calm.

"There will always be speculation and I call it 'noise'," Hughes said. "Once a manager departs after a lot of noise that noise switches to someone else and all the negative stats come out.

"A little bit of the noise is around me at the moment which is the nature of the role that I have. It will go away with a few good results.

"It becomes a little bit predictable and you understand how it works. After 20 years doing his job, it's nothing I haven't seen and dealt with before. It's part of the job and it doesn't faze me.

"We're calm, that's the key. That's helped by my demeanour. I don't feel the need to get panicked because I'm confident in the ability of the group and the club."

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MATCH STATS -

- Southampton haven't lost to Fulham in their last six games (in all competitions) winning the last three games without conceding once.

- Fulham's next victory in the Premier League will be their 300th in the top-flight.

- Claudio Ranieri's first Premier League games in charge of Chelsea and Leicester both featured six goals. Chelsea drawing 3-3 with Manchester United and Leicester beating Sunderland 4-2.

- Southampton are without a win in their last eight league matches, losing half of those games.

- The Saints have only managed to score 47 goals in their previous 56 Premier League encounters.

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BETTING ODDS -

Fulham: 13/8

Draw: 12/5

Southampton: 15/8