Brentford face Fulham at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday 23 July.
This is the first of three Premier League Summer Series fixtures this month as Thomas Frank’s side gear up for another top-flight campaign.
The Opposition
Mitrovic interest an unwanted distraction as Cottagers look to build on impressive Premier League campaign
Over the last five years, Fulham have learned the hard way that playing in the Premier League is a privilege that has to be earned.
In 2018/19, they returned to the top flight after four seasons away, ploughed tens of millions into a somewhat scattergun approach in the transfer market, and finished second bottom, 10 points from safety, after collecting just seven league wins all season. Not to mention the fact they went through three managers.
Two years later, the Cottagers were back. There was a more careful approach to strengthening the squad to handle the step back up, yet this campaign was arguably even worse, not least because Covid restrictions meant that 35 of their 38 league games were played behind closed doors. They won just five games and finished 18th, 11 points behind Burnley.
The term yo-yo club is usually associated with the likes of Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion, but Fulham were rapidly advancing towards that territory.
Marco Silva replaced Scott Parker in the summer of 2021 and helped the squad realise its potential in ways his predecessor could not. He guided them to the Championship title in style, with Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring a record-breaking 43 league goals along the way.
When it came to recruitment last summer, by and large, Silva and his staff got it just right. Fulham added Premier League experience in the form of Andreas Pereira, Bernd Leno, Issa Diop and Willian; Manor Solomon impressed during a loan spell from Shakhtar Donetsk, and the signing of Joao Palhinha for a reported £20m from Sporting looks to be a stroke of genius.
Fulham’s 10th-place finish was the best since they finished ninth in 2011/12 and their fourth best in their 16 seasons in the division to date. It was no doubt helped by the fact Mitrovic proved his doubters wrong by scoring 14 goals in 24 league appearances – an average of 0.58 goals per game and his best in five top-flight campaigns.
At the time of writing, the club’s preparation for the new season has been disrupted by an unwelcome approach for the talismanic Serb.
Saudi Pro League clubs are flexing their financial muscle on a regular basis this summer and Al Hilal – who have already signed Kalidou Koulibaly from Chelsea, Ruben Neves from Wolves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio – are said to have returned with a second bid of about £30 million, after the first of around £25.5m was turned down.
According to Sky Sports, Mitrovic has personally contacted Tony Khan – son of Cottagers owner Shahid – to ask him to accept the offer, which he believes is fair - but it will come as absolutely no shock that Fulham have rejected that one, too.
This is a transfer saga that could become protracted. At 28, Mitrovic is in his prime and, without doubt, the club’s key asset. It is easy to see why they have rejected two offers out of hand. Even if he does leave later down the line for an acceptable fee, is his deputy Carlos Vinicius capable of filling his boots? Bringing in a ready-made replacement would cost considerably more than £30m.
With less than a month until the start of the new season, this is not ideal preparation.
In the Dugout
Marco Silva
Despite having turned 46 earlier in July, Marco Silva already has 12 years of managerial experience under his belt, having taken charge of more than 400 matches across three countries.
After a career as a right-back in his native Portugal, he was appointed director of football at Estoril in 2011, but quickly thrust into his first role as leading man when the club endured an unfavourable start to the campaign. He managed to turn the club’s fortunes around, winning the Liga de Honra and cementing a return to the Primeira Liga after a seven-year exile.
In 2014, Silva signed a four-year deal at Sporting and went on to win the Taca de Portugal, but he lasted just days over a year in charge. Shortly after the cup win, the club produced a 400-page document where they detailed the reasoning for his dismissal, with one section claiming his failure to wear a club suit during a match partly justified the decision.
A title-winning season at Olympiacos came next, before he took on a fire-fighting job at relegation-threatened Hull. Silva galvanised a Tigers team that included Harry Maguire and Andy Robertson, but ultimately could not prevent the club dropping back into the Championship and he resigned in May 2017.
That preceded time at Watford and Everton, before he joined Fulham just over two years ago.
Silva has taken charge of 94 games during his time at Craven Cottage and guided the club to the Championship title two seasons ago.
Pre-match analysis
Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Summer Series provides Frank with an opportunity to experiment
Brentford may have crossed the Atlantic for their pre-season tour in the US, but first up at the Premier League Summer Series this Sunday are fellow west Londoners, Fulham - and here's a quick stat attack from Playmaker (playmaker_EN) ahead of the contest.
Bees boss Thomas Frank hopes strong pre-season performances against domestic rivals will help his side "attack" the 2023/24 campaign and, although the Summer Series will help bed in new defensive signings Nathan Collins and Mark Flekken, it also offers Brentford a valuable opportunity to experiment in offensive areas.
Shorn of Ivan Toney until January, Brentford will undoubtedly look to polish their set-piece routines while on tour. Last season, the Bees came alive when the ball went dead: no team scored more Premier League goals from dead balls (23 including spot-kicks).
On the subject of penalties, head coach Frank will welcome the chance to gather intelligence on potential deputies for Toney from the spot.
Bryan Mbeumo is a strong candidate to assume Toney's duties from 12 yards and the Cameroon international's stats from last season are a fantastic illustration of another string to the Bees' bow: their counter-attacking prowess.
As Sunday's opponents Fulham will be well aware, Brentford pose a serious threat in transition and only Manchester United (9), Manchester City and Liverpool (both 7) scored more goals on the counter than the Bees (6) last season.
Mbeumo netted four of the Bees' six goals on the break, and with nine Premier League goals last term, the 23-year-old will surely be plotting how to break double figures in the coming campaign.
Heavily linked with a move to Saudi outfit Al-Hilal in recent weeks, Aleksandar Mitrovic has travelled with Fulham to Philadelphia and a quick look at the Serb's stats over recent seasons underlines how key he has been to the Cottagers' recent rise.
After firing home a record-breaking 43 Championship goals in Fulham's 2021/22 promotion campaign, Mitrovic put any doubts regarding his ability at Premier League level to the sword by firing home 14 goals in the top flight last season.
Only one forward - Ivan Toney (109) - won more aerial duels than Mitrovic (100) in the Premier League last term and it will be interesting to note Brentford and Fulham's tactics and line-ups this Sunday given that both teams, to some degree at least, need to prepare to start the season without their talismanic strikers.
The Gameplan
With PA Sport's Reuben Rosso-Powell
In Hot off the Press, PA Sport's Reuben Rosso-Powell gives us the lowdown on Fulham, including the future of boss Marco Silva and the Whites' pre-season preparations.
"Fulham play a fluid system that can change into different shapes depending on scenarios around the pitch and who is in possession. This is made possible through the work rate of the players - especially the full-backs who like to create attacking width, which allows the wide players to pick up inside positions.
"Fulham's success last season was also helped through the physicality of the side. I felt they were hard to bully like many maybe expected at the start of the year and that belief they picked up in the early stages was shown in the fast, well-structured football we saw them produce at times."
Last Meeting
Brentford 3 Fulham 2 (Premier League, 6 March 2023)
Brentford edged a pulsating west London derby against Fulham to extend their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 12 games.
Ethan Pinnock and Manor Solomon traded goals at either end of the first half as the rivals went in level.
Ivan Toney restored the Bees’ advantage from the penalty spot early in the second half with Mathias Jensen making the game safe seven minutes from time.
Carlos Vinicius netted a late consolation for Marco Silva’s side but there would be no denying Brentford all three derby night points.
Four clubs. Two matches. One great day out. Lincoln Financial Field hosts Fulham v Brentford and Newcastle United v Aston Villa on Sunday 23 July. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.