"Almost impossible" for Cottagers to avoid Premier League relegation, says the Sky Sports pundit
Friday 22 February 2019 23:04, UK
Jamie Carragher believes there is almost "no way out" for Fulham in their Premier League survival fight after a 3-1 defeat at West Ham United.
The Cottagers got off to the perfect at the London Stadium on Friday night when Ryan Babel opened the scoring in the third minute, only to lose to a controversial Javier Hernandez goal and further strikes from Issa Diop and Michail Antonio.
And with games against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City coming up, Sky Sports pundit Carragher believes time is running out for Claudio Ranieri's side, who are now eight points adrift of safety.
"There's a huge gap between them and safety and I don't see them bridging it," Carragher said.
"It's almost impossible I would say - not just because they have lost the game, but it was a game they had an outside chance of winning when you look at some of the fixtures coming.
"They've had West Ham tonight, then Southampton and then a tough run of fixtures.
"It was these two games they had to pick four points out of, possibly six, and I don't see any way out for them.
"Maybe between now and the end of the season, it is perhaps a case of getting ready for the Championship."
Gary Neville also believes Fulham have "all the hallmarks" of a relegation side and are too "nice" for a scrap at the bottom of the table.
"I am always wary of saying a team will go down but they've got all the hallmarks," Neville added.
"Football is fine lines and it's about moments but they're not picking not up points and are not clinical enough in either box.
"Certainly defensively, they don't smell danger and they're not alert enough to it.
"It doesn't feel right watching them, they are a nice team - nice to watch, pretty in their football but it's not effective and they are going to go down, I think."
