'A powerhouse' - £15m Fulham star's performance vs Everton earns team of the week honour

Fulham weren’t able to get the better of Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon as they drew 1-1 with Sean Dyche’s side after a tight game on Merseyside. Marco Silva’s side took the lead through former Everton attacker Alex Iwobi before Beto equalised for the Toffees in the 94th minute.

It was a close game between the two sides, but Fulham will be disappointed that they weren’t able to hold onto the three points and grab their first win in three games since they beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 late in September.

However, despite the disappointing result, one Fulham star shined in the 1-1 draw as defender Issa Diop, who former Watford striker Troy Deeney described as a ‘powerhouse’ handing him a spot in the Premier League team of the week.

The 27-year-old was included in Deeney’s team alongside Crystal Palace and Manchester City defenders Marc Guehi and Ruben Dias for what is his first appearance this season.

Wiriting in his weekly feature for BBC Sport, Deeney claimed: “He [Issa Diop] was excellent and it was a great game by Fulham. They probably should have killed the game off, but fair play to Everton, they dug in and carried on. Diop had a tough time last year when people were questioning him, but I thought he was a powerhouse at the back at the weekend.”

Fulham’s £15m buy starting to come good after slow start at Craven Cottage

Marco Silva will be delighted at the recent form of Issa Diop, who has helped Fulham to a decent start to the Premier League season in which they have won three, drawn three and lost three games.

Diop signed in August 2022 from London rivals West Ham United for a fee of £15m. He has since made 62 appearances for Fulham, scoring two goals for the Cottagers so far.

However, over the past two seasons he has made 25 and 18 appearances in 38-game Premier League seasons and hasn’t been able to establish himself as a mainstay in Marco Silva’s defence. That said, this year, he has made seven appearances in Fulham’s opening nine matches which means he is on course to break his game record in a Premier League season since he moved to Craven Cottage in 2022.

Diop previously had a 33-game season during his time at West Ham where he performed consistently between 2018 and 2020. However, since then it has been very up and down for the 27-year-old.

Marco Silva will hope that the defender can begin to produce his best on a regular basis this year and become a mainstay for Fulham as they look to push into the European football places.