Jack Kelly, Fulham reporter: European hopes on the line in west London derby

Jack Kelly, Fulham reporter: European hopes on the line in west London derby

Fulham’s bid for European qualification continues this weekend, explains reporter Jack Kelly, with a west London derby against Brentford adding extra significance to the closing weeks of the season.

Both sides remain firmly in contention for a top-seven finish and, with only a handful of games remaining, Saturday’s meeting could have a major say in the race for European football after a season of mixed results for Marco Silva’s side.

Fulham are ninth in the Premier League table, with seven games to play at the time of writing. How would you summarise their season to date?

It has been a really interesting season where 13 wins, 13 defeats and five draws mean the fanbase is either very high after a win or very low after a defeat.

And when they have drawn games, they have usually come in batches of two, so they drew two at the beginning of the season and two at the beginning of 2026, and there was a 0-0 draw with Nottingham Forest recently.

Other than that, it has been very inconsistent with a win here, a defeat, a win, and a lot of those games have had late drama in them, with lots of late goals that have decided them, which has caused a dramatic swing in the fanbase in terms of positivity or negativity.

In terms of individual performances and stability, and what they want to do in terms of staying in the Premier League, it has been very successful.

To get to that next level and get into Europe, there is one final push to try and do it. It is just about whether they can get over the line now after a couple of failed attempts.

It has been a good season and people will look back on it that way, but everyone is focused on Europe now, and it feels like, in some people's eyes, the season might be a failure if Fulham do not qualify. I see it as another progressive season in the Premier League.

The Whites are one of a number of teams in a packed midtable with eyes on qualifying for European football of some kind next season. What has Marco Silva said on that topic, if anything?

He has said they are fighting very, very hard for it and that is the position they want to end up in at the end of the season.

At the end of last season, he put the aim out to the players about bettering the points tally from last season, which was a club record, and if that was to be the case, it meant Fulham would have a pretty successful season and a good shot at Europe. They are on a good path towards it.

There have been a couple of results that have been a little bit detrimental to their hopes, but when they beat Burnley before the international break, that put them right back on track. Silva has been pretty clear in what he wants, and the expectation from him to the players is that Fulham can do it and the players believe it as well.

It is all on these last six games now. They have to focus on themselves, not try to rely on other teams, and just do the business.

'It is all on these last six games now. They have to focus on themselves, not try to rely on other teams, and just do the business'

On top of that, 11 more points would set a new club record for the second season running. Qualifying for Europe is the aim, of course, but would that be seen as a decent consolation?

I think so. Fulham are a club who have had to come up and stabilise themselves in the Premier League in quite a difficult climate, so to beat the points record in back-to-back seasons, given the competitive nature of the division, would be a massive success.

Given there was not a massive change in the squad in the summer, bar a couple of signings, it means the continuity has kept going, and the manager is still there, too. Fulham are on the right track and delivering results and consistent performances across the season.

They can be very inconsistent with their league form, and there is definitely a feeling they could have had more points, which was said around the same stage last season as well, but when they have lost games, they have managed to bounce back pretty well.

It would be seen as a massive success if they were able to reach 55+ points this season because it is difficult in this league; there are loads of teams vying for European places, and then teams trying to beat their own individual records as well.

Having players like Harry Wilson, Alex Iwobi and Raúl Jiménez has really helped them this season.

Which player should Brentford be keeping an eye out for on Saturday?

Josh King came on against Brentford in the game at the Gtech last season and made a decoy run, which set up the space for Wilson to score. He also made the mistake of giving the ball away, from which Brentford scored, earlier in the season, too.

But his second-half performance against Burnley was the best I have seen from him in the first team.

Of course, Wilson is the dangerman and I would expect him to start. There are a lot of players that could hurt Brentford, but he is the main one.

What should Keith Andrews’ side expect in terms of shape and style?

It will be a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, however you want to see it. A goalkeeper, a back four, a holding midfielder, one more advanced, a no.10, maybe Wilson on the right-hand side, Samuel Chukwueze or Oscar Bobb on the left - given Kevin is likely still injured – then Jiménez or Rodrigo Muniz up top.

Out of possession, they like to press in a 4-4-2, with the no.10 pressing from the front with the striker, then trying to win the ball high up the pitch. They play with high intensity and are always trying to win games.

Maybe it is reflective of only five draws that Silva says they do not play for draws, which can be detrimental at times, because the desire to win can sometimes cause them to go on and lose.

Fulham are very expansive in the way they play and brave in the way they play, but given this is a derby, they will be giving it that extra 10 per cent.

What’s your score prediction?

Right now, I think this is going to be a game where both teams score.

I am very wary of Igor Thiago, whose form is incredible, and the fact that Brentford seem to create chances and score goals in nearly every game they play.

There will be goals, so I am going to go for a 2-2 draw.