Arguably the pick of the ties in the second round of the EFL Cup will take place at Craven Cottage on Tuesday evening, with Fulham welcoming fellow Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur.

Fulham will enter the match off the back of a 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the league on Saturday, while Tottenham recorded a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth on the same afternoon.

Match preview

Fulham have made a respectable start to their 2023-24 Premier League campaign, picking up four points from their opening three matches, which has left them in 11th position in the table.

Marco Silva's side recorded a 1-0 victory at Everton in their season opener before suffering a 3-0 loss at home to Brentford in their second match of the campaign on August 19.

The London club responded to the three-goal defeat by holding Arsenal to a draw on Saturday, though, with Joao Palhinha coming up with the game's fourth goal in the 87th minute of the match.

Andreas Pereira sent Fulham ahead inside the first minute at the Emirates Stadium before Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah turned the match around, but Palhinha struck to secure a deserved leveller for the visitors.

The Cottagers have never won the League Cup, but they were runners-up in the 1975 FA Cup, and the team could be potential dark horses in the competition during the 2023-24 campaign.

Tottenham, meanwhile, made it back-to-back wins in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon by recording a two-goal success at Bournemouth courtesy of goals from James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.

Ange Postecoglou's side opened their season with a 2-2 draw against Brentford before recording a 2-0 victory over Manchester United in their second match of the campaign on August 19.

Spurs were again impressive at Bournemouth on Saturday, and they will now be aiming to progress to the third round of the EFL Cup ahead of their next Premier League match at Burnley next weekend.

Tottenham have won the League Cup on four separate occasions, with their last success in the competition coming in 2008, overcoming Chelsea in the final.

Spurs have won eight of their last nine matches against Fulham in all competitions, while they are unbeaten at Craven Cottage since an FA Cup clash in January 2011.

Team News

Fulham will be without the services of Calvin Bassey, who was sent off against Arsenal on Saturday.

Willian is also a doubt due to a muscular problem, with the Brazilian unlikely to be risked, but Tim Ream will be back from a suspension of his own and should start.

Head coach Silva will undoubtedly make changes to his starting side for this match, with Tom Cairney, Harrison Reed, Adama Traore, Kevin Mbabu and Marek Rodak among those likely to come into the XI.

Raul Jimenez was impressive against Arsenal on Saturday, but Carlos Vinicius is expected to come into the side to lead the line against Tottenham on Tuesday.

Spurs, meanwhile, will again be without the services of Tanguy Ndombele, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ryan Sessegnon, Bryan Gil and Alfie Whiteman through injury; Destiny Udogie is also a doubt due to a knock.

Head coach Postecoglou will also shuffle his pack for this match, with Ivan Perisic, Oliver Skipp, Ben Davies, Emerson Royal and Davinson Sanchez set to come into the side.

Fraser Forster is expected to get the nod between the sticks, while there could be starts for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Giovani Lo Celso despite the speculation surrounding their futures.

Fulham possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Mbabu, Adarabioyo, Ream, Robinson; Reed, Lukic; Traore, Cairney, Wilson; Vinicius

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Forster; Emerson, Sanchez, Van de Ven, Davies; Hojbjerg, Skipp, Lo Celso; Perisic, Richarlison, Solomon

We say: Fulham 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Both managers will ring the changes for this contest, but it should still be an entertaining affair between two Premier League sides. It would not be a surprise to see a home win, but we just have a feeling that Spurs will shade the match to progress to the next round of the competition.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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