Fulham boss only one not surprised by back-to-back 5-0 victories

Marco Silva insists he is “not surprised at all” by Fulham’s impressive form, despite his side securing remarkable back-to-back 5-0 victories in their last two Premier League contests.

The Cottagers have also scored 17 times in their last five league meetings, and will hope to keep the floodgates open when they travel to Newcastle on Saturday.

Four of those goals are from Raul Jimenez, who has come into his own and inspired what Silva feels is a boost in collective freedom of expression in recent weeks.

Asked if Fulham were exceeding his expectations, Silva said: “No. If you ask me if it’s normal to win two games 5-0 like we did, I have to say that no, sometimes in this league to win 1-0 or 2-1 is so difficult, imagine to win two games in a row.

“This is, of course I’m going to be honest with you, something that is really, really tough because I don’t know how many years since [it has been done], that shows how difficult it is to do it.

“But the way we played, you’re talking about performance, you’re talking about expressing ourselves. I’m not at all surprised because it is the way we prepare ourselves, our players, it’s the way we want to play.

“Of course we are adjusting things, we are trying to add some things for our game, but I know if you can start the game confident, if you can focus, [you see] the two games, after our team scored the first goal in both games we started to express ourselves much better.

“It’s part of the process, when things come in the right direction things can happen in the way we did it, but about the performance I’m not surprised at all.”

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Silva believes Newcastle’s midweek Champions League exit will only serve as fuel for the hosts to prove a point in their return to domestic action, predicting it will be a “harder than easier” encounter with Eddie Howe’s seventh-placed side, who he characterised as “one of the most intense teams” in the division.

Nevertheless, the Portuguese boss is confident 10th-placed Fulham, whose last three victories – against Wolves, Nottingham Forest and West Ham – have all come at Craven Cottage, have what it takes to walk away with at least a point at St James’ Park.

He added: “We are going to win more games away from home. I have no doubts about it. We have to keep performing in the way we have been doing, keep believing and the good things will come.”