It hasn't quite been the start most were expecting from Fulham - the free scoring side of last season haven't quite turned up yet but they still sit in 10th, just four points off the play-offs.

However, Saturday's 2-1 defeat showed once again that there is a lack of firepower up front and that the side look without ideas when they enter the final third, especially without a fully fit Tom Cairney pulling the strings.

Last season the side were extremely lucky with injuries but this campaign couldn't be further - Cairney, Rui Fonte, Floyd Ayite, Ryan Fredericks, Aboubakar Kamara and now Stefan Johansen have all suffered so far.

Fulham, like most teams nowadays, use stats heavily in both their recruitment of new players and their analyse of games, and like it or lump it it's the way football is going.

So on the back of that, we've taken a look at the OPTA stats from Fulham's season so far and it makes for telling reading.

Passing accuracy - Joint 1st (82%)

This one was always going to be top of the pile - Fulham play a certain way under Slavisa Jokanovic and that won't change, regardless of how things go.

Already this season the side top the charts for their passing accuracy, which is no surprise when you watch the side as they try to pass the opposition to death.

It's all about working their way into areas where they have a high scoring chance, such as inside the 18 yard box, which is why we never really see Fulham scoring a 25-yard screamer as it presents itself as having a smalling scoring percentage than a shot inside the box would do.

Passing - 2nd (6,532)

Fulham rank second in the division for passes, 200 shy of Nottingham Forest who rank top (and also, interestingly enough, are joint top with the Whites in passing accuracy).

This ties in once again with how Fulham play football and the ideology that Jokanovic has in that passing the ball and keeping possession is a better way to win a football match than bypassing midfield and hitting the front men.

Last season it was much the same, and so in this sense it would seem that Fulham are continuing where they picked up at the end of the last campaign and continuing with their style of dominating football matches.

Goals - 9th (17)

Last season no one scored more goals than Fulham, who finished the season top of the pile with 85 goals.

If Fulham want to reach that number once again this season, they will need to score 2.7 goals a game (obviously they can't score .7 of a goal, but in stats terms this number is okay as the average).

It's not impossible by any stretch of the imagination, but it leads us onto our next few stats which I will group together for ease of comparison.

Shots - 10th (170)

Shots on target - 17th (47)

Conversion rate - 11th (13%)

It's clear from looking at the stats (and from watching on the pitch) that Fulham aren't having the best of times in front of goal so far this season, and it could come down to a number of things, but I personally think it's the lack of an out-and-out striker.

Only 47 of the strikes the 170 shots they've had this season have hit the target, that's just 27.65%.

Take from that that only 13% of those attempts have actually resulted in a goal and you start to see why people are growing frustrated at the lack of attempts that Fulham are having this campaign.

Fulham simply aren't doing enough in front of goal so far and it's starting to tell - they struggled to break down Villa and the goal only came from a set piece, while in front of their own fans at the Cottage they've struggled to score regularly too.

Let's now look at the other end of the scale.

Goals conceded - 12th (14)

Tackles 14th (215)

Tackle success rate - 21st (61%)

Clearances - 16th (344)

This makes for interesting reading. First of all, we must remember that Fulham like to dominate the ball and as such, they won't need to make as many tackles as other teams in the division who perhaps don't play a style of football like Jokanovic's side.

That will also explain the clearances figure - Fulham like to play out from the back as we all know, and so the amount of clearances they make in a game will, again, not be as higher as other sides in the division.

But what we can look is the tackle success rate, which is only 61% and one of the worst in the division.

Are sides finding it easier to score against the Whites because they aren't as strong in the tackle?

It surprises me, because Fulham have perhaps one of the best defensive midfielders in the league in Kevin McDonald, who I would imagine probably props up that tackle success rate figure quite a bit.

Does this mean that players, despite being good on the ball, aren't particularly good at the defensive side of the game which is just as important?

I've always said that Championships are built on defences - Jose Mourinho certainly seems to think that way too and despite the criticisms of his style, he's won titles and is in with a shot at another one this season.

Do Fulham have the defensive capabilities to win a title? Judging from last season and this, the stats seem to suggest they don't.

We've put all the sides into our OPTA widget below, so you can see how the Whites compare in all these categories to their promotion chasing rivals.