A place in the fifth round of the FA Cup is on the line when Fulham host Sunderland at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon.

The Cottagers defeated Hull City 2-0 to book their place in round four, while the Black Cats posted a 2-1 victory away to Shrewsbury Town.

Match preview

Whether Fulham can cap off their meteoric rise with an unexpected piece of silverware remains to be seen, but the Cottagers may not need the Europa League place that FA Cup success will guarantee should they continue in the same vein domestically.

Marco Silva's side are one of several teams taking advantage of Liverpool and Chelsea's misfortunes to put themselves in the continental conversation, but back-to-back 1-0 losses to Champions League-chasing Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur - the latter coming from Harry Kane's record-equalling 266th Spurs goal - shows that there is still some way to go for the seventh-placed Cottagers.

However, the West London club can dare to dream in the FA Cup, where goals from Layvin Kurzawa and Daniel James either side of the half-time whistle saw off Hull City in round three, and a first appearance in the fifth round since 2016-17 is within touching distance.

The fourth round has been Fulham's kryptonite recently, though, as the Cottagers have been eliminated in this round three years in a row between 2019 and 2021, although two of those exits did come at the hands of Manchester City.

Four of the Cottagers' last five FA Cup matches at Craven Cottage have also ended in defeat, but on a brighter note, Silva's steadfast side have shipped just four goals in their last seven games in all competitions and are firm favourites to get the job done here.

Talk about coming up clutch in the dying embers, Sunderland were on the verge of a shock elimination from the FA Cup in their third-round battle with League One outfit Shrewsbury Town, who broke the deadlock through Matthew Pennington with 81 minutes on the clock.

However, after the fourth official's board had gone up to signal added time, Ross Stewart and Luke O'Nien came up with a pair of quickfire goals for the Black Cats to prolong their FA Cup journey - for the time being at least - in the most dramatic of circumstances.

Tony Mowbray's side are currently pre-occupied with their Championship playoff push, which gathered pace courtesy of a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough last weekend, as Stewart and Amad Diallo struck to land the ninth-placed Black Cats to within one point of the top six.

A pair of goals versus the 10 men of Boro saw Sunderland find the back of the net for the 10th game in a row in all competitions, but they had also conceded in seven games on the bounce prior to keeping Michael Carrick's men at bay, and not since 2009-10 have they been knocked out in round four of the FA Cup.

Sunderland have not gone further than round four since a fifth-round exit in 2014-15, but they overcame Fulham 3-1 in a fourth-round replay that year and also have a seven-match unbeaten run on the road to protect at Craven Cottage.

Team News

Fulham have no fresh injury or suspension concerns to report ahead of Saturday's game, and Silva's only absentee should therefore be Neeskens Kebano, who is on the long road to recovery from a ruptured Achilles.

With a wealth of options from which to choose, Silva can be expected to make a few alterations for the fifth-round tie, with top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic potentially enjoying a rest as Carlos Vinicius gets a chance to lead the line.

Marek Rodak, Kurzawa, Tom Cairney and Tosin Adarabioyo - despite links with a move away in the coming days - could also be in line for recalls, while Manor Solomon will be pining for his first start in a Fulham jersey, having made three substitute appearances since recovering from knee surgery.

Meanwhile, Sunderland's win over Middlesbrough was overshadowed by a serious injury to captain Corry Evans, who is now out for the rest of the season after damaging his anterior cruciate ligament.

Alex Pritchard, Elliot Embleton and Dennis Cirkin are also in the treatment room for the Black Cats, who threw the recently-returned Aji Alese into the deep end against Boro, but the 22-year-old earned high praise from his manager after lasting 70 minutes before being taken off with cramp,

Alese will seemingly be given another chance in the first XI here, as O'Nien must serve the second of a three-game ban after seeing red against Swansea City on January 14, and Lynden Gooch is facing a two or three-week absence with a hip injury.

Fulham possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Tete, Adarabioyo, Diop, Kurzawa; Chalobah, Cairney; James, Pereira, Solomon; Vinicius

Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Bass; Hume, Ballard, Wright, Alese; Diallo, Neil, Ba, Clarke; Roberts, Stewart

We say: Fulham 2-0 Sunderland

A Sunderland side with a taste for goals undoubtedly possess the tools to hurt Fulham, but the hosts are rarely overwhelmed defensively and have far fewer injury concerns to worry about here.

Even if things do go pear-shaped, Silva is blessed with several high-quality options off the bench, and we can only picture the Cottagers marching onto the fifth round.

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