Aston Villa continue to extend their rich vein of form after their recent heroics in the Champions League against Bayern Munich, as they look to face a resilient and strong Fulham side at Craven Cottage this Saturday.
Unai Emery’s side, although they were met with a stalemate last game week in a 0-0 draw against Manchester United, in the broader scheme of things have been overperforming and exceeding expectations.
In their return season to the Champions League after a long-awaited spell of 41 years, they are sitting joint top, gaining 6 points out of 6, with seasoned UCL teams like Liverpool, Juventus, and Borussia Dortmund.
This also includes the famous 1-0 win over Bayern Munich at Villa Park, which also witnessed a UCL night out after 41 long years. In the Premier League as well, they have just lost one game (vs. Arsenal) and sit comfortably at 5th, having defeated Wolves, Leicester, Everton, and West Ham with ease.
This weekend they face an equally in form side in Fulham, with Marco Silva’s side just 3 points behind Villa, sitting 8th in the table.
Fulham come into this game following a 3-2 defeat to defending champions Manchester City but the scoreline did not do justice to them.
They played some fluid counter attacking football and had Adama Traore managed to convert some great 1v1 chances, the game could have changed and even turned into Fulham’s favour.
Villa remain undefeated at home in the Premier League, whilst still early days is always a strong facet to have in your game.
Last 5 Games
Villa have accumulated over 11 points of possible 15 in the last 5 games across all competitions. This includes the famous 1-0 win over giants Bayern Munich at Villa Park.
The only concerning thing that was visible in their 0-0 draw against Manchester United was the fact that the team looked drained in terms of their physical efforts and pressing.
This is of course down to the fact that they are involved in so many competitions, including playing UCL football midweek and then playing Premier League games the following weekend.
Both the UCL and PL are high-level and intense competitions, and it can take the sting out of a team, especially one that is marking its comeback after so long.
Fulham, on the other side, have drawn one, won two, and lost 2 of their last 5 games. Having been knocked out by Preston North End in the EFL Cup and their recent loss against City, they have collected 7 points out of a total of 15.
However, some would say even in the losses, for example, vs. City, the performance aspect of the team has not let them down. Marco Silva would be hopeful that if they keep their performance levels the same both in attack and defence, they can come out with a result against this informed Villa side.
Aston Villa
- 0-0 vs Manchester United (D)
- 1-0 vs Bayern Munich (W)
- 2-2 vs Ipswich Town (D)
- 2-1 vs Wycombe (W)
- 3-1 vs Wolves (W)
Fulham
- 3-2 vs Man City (L)
- 0-1 vs Nottingham Forest (W)
- 3-1 vs Newcastle United (W)
- 1-1 vs Wycombe (Lost on Penalties 16-15)
- 1-1 vs West Ham United (D)
Team News
For Villa, defence will be a concern as their No. 1 English CB, Ezri Konsa, hobbled off against Manchester United last game week. Add that to the long-term absentees of Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings who are recovering from ACL injuries, and the Villa side looks feebler in depth.
Although Mings and Kamara have started team training, it’s still early days to start them. Midfield will also be a concern as John Mcginn is out with a hamstring injury, as is Amadou Onana, who was recently withdrawn from the Belgian national team.
To make matters worse, Jaden Philogene also picked up a knock in the England U21 game recently and is out with his fellow young English teammate Jacob Ramsey, who fights against time with a groin issue. Emery might have to rely on Ross Barkley and Youri Tielemans again in midfield, with Diego Carlos filling in for the injured Konsa.
For Fulham, Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey faced international travel struggles wherein the entire Nigerian National Team was stranded at the airport in lieu of their international match vs. Libya. It remains to be seen if they can be fit in time in spite of these issues.
The Cottagers can expect Emile Smith Rowe to return to the starting XI after a recent stint at the bench in the last game vs. City with Marco Silva preferring a more defensive option in Sander Berge the last game. But this time around, with the home crowd behind, you can expect Smith Rowe to be back as a signal of the home side’s attacking intent.
Fulham look a more fit side in comparison to Villa, with Jorge Cuenca and Carlos Vinicius also returning from foot injuries. The rest of the XI (as last week vs. City) should be fit enough to start this game as well.
Possible Line-Ups
Fulham FC: Fulham are expected to line up in a traditional 4-2-3-1 formation with the following players: Leno (GK), Tete, Bassey, Andersen, Robinson, Lukic, Pereira, and Adama, Smith-Rowe, Iwobi, and Jiminez.
Aston Villa: Aston Villa are expected to line up in the following 4-2-2-2 formation with the following players: Martínez (GK), Cash, Diego Carlos, Torres, Digne, Barkley, Tielemans, Bailey, Rogers, Durán, and Watkins.
Head to Head
These two teams have faced each other 76 times in history, out of which Villa have just nearly edged the Cottagers by 2 more wins. They have won 28 games out of this, whereas Fulham have won 26. The rest of the 22 games have ended in a draw.
If we just look at the last 3 head-to-head games, Villa have triumphed over the London outfit on all 3 occasions, with Villa winning 2-1 in Feb 2024, 3-1 in Nov 2023, and 1-0 in April 2023.
Fulham will have to date back to late 2022, to their last win vs. Villa, wherein they won 3-0 with Douglas Luiz being sent off and Mitrovic being on the scoresheet. Marco Silva’s side will look to break the shackles and overcome this recent head-to-head record for the last 3 games.
Where will the game be decided?
For Villa, there is only one man on the lips of every Villa fan, and that’s the mighty Jhon Duran. The mercurial Colombian centre forward has netted in 6 goals in 10 games for Aston Villa (stats by transfermarkt) with Emery always relying on the centre forward, either from the bench or from the start, to win games.
On the other hand, Ollie Watkins scored against Ipswich a couple of games back, still trying to re-emulate his last year’s scintillating form. One thing to notice is that Watkins scored both in home and away fixtures against Fulham last season and would be looking to make it 3 in a row this Saturday. So, the forwards for Villa are where the game will be decided for them, with both of them having good conversions of goal scoring chances.
For, Fulham Raul Jimenez has scored twice in his last 2 games and with the expected return of Emile Smith Rowe back to the starting XI, they will hope that these two can link up nicely and win the game for their side. Andreas Pereira is also the heart of this side in terms of chance creation for this Fulham side so his importance shall also not be under looked.
Predictions
Both sides will look to redeem themselves after disappointing results in the last game week. Villa will look to bounce back after a tired performance vs Man United while Fulham will hope that they build on their good performance even in spite of losing the game vs City, where they could have clearly won if they took their chances.
We are going for a 1-1 draw, as this game has a draw written all over it. Fulham at home is tough to beat and Villa will look to bounce back.
Odds
Fulham to win – 2.40 (odds in decimals)
Draw – 3.55 (odds in decimals)
Villa to win – 2.85 (odds in decimals)
Data from Unibet at time of writing
However, Sofascore shows a win probability of 55% for Aston Villa while 23% for a draw and 22% for a Fulham win. This might be given that Villa have won these last 3 fixtures against the London side.
Kick-Off Time
The game kicks off at 2 PM GMT/ 7:30 IST, at the Craven Cottage with the officials as follows:
Referee: Darren England.
Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Andrew Fox.
Fourth official: Matt Donohue.
VAR: Paul Tierney.
Assistant VAR: Dan Cook. (data taken from official PL site)
