Fulham v Crystal Palace: Key stats and talking points

Fulham host London rivals Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage on Saturday (15:00 BST), with both teams looking for their first point of the season. Fulham's campaign got off to the worst possible start when they conceded to neighbours Chelsea just 30 seconds into their opening match. Defeat by the Blues was followed by another at Sunderland and while there will be no panic at the Cottage as new head coach Alvaro Arbeloa is still settling in, fans might be aware that only twice before have Fulham lost their first three games of a top-flight campaign (1951-52 and 2020-21). On both previous occasions, they went on to be relegated. Fulham have also struggled against Palace in recent years, winning just two of their last 13 Premier League matches against the Eagles (D6, L5), with neither victory coming on home soil. They have failed to win any of the past eight times they have hosted Palace in all competitions (D3, L5), losing on each of the last three occasions. Meanwhile, midfielder Alex Iwobi could make his 100th Premier League appearance for Fulham in this match, which would see the former Arsenal and Everton player join an elite group of men who have racked up centuries of Premier League appearances for three different clubs. [BBC] It's also been a shaky start for Crystal Palace who, like Fulham are without a point, and have conceded six goals, the joint-highest total in the top flight. Palace had 12 clean sheets in the 2025-26 league campaign, with only Arsenal and Manchester City having more. Yet the Eagles have conceded at least two goals in each of their last eight Premier League matches – they've never done so in nine in a row in their entire league history. Only relegated bottom two Burnley and Wolves scored fewer times than Palace in last season's Premier League and the Eagles' only goal so far in this campaign has been an own goal. It's not been an ideal start for new boss Pierre Sage, who is now in danger of losing three league games in a row for the first time in his managerial career. But Palace do have a good record against Fulham. They won 2-1 on their last league visit to Craven Cottage in December and also beat the Whites by that scoreline in a pre-season encounter at Motspur Park a month ago. [BBC]