Premier League: Cottagers Welcome Villains to the Thames

Fulham vs Aston Villa

Another Premier League encounter by the Thames and rarely are they short of excitement – for the neutrals.

With Fulham inconsistent but a force on their day, and Villa playing well but struggling at home of late, Premier League highlights appear a decent bet to me.

It also outlines two impressive managers in Marco Silva and Unai Emery who continue to do a fine job at their respective clubs.

Talking Points

Fulham are currently in 12^th place, comfortably midtable to be clear of relegation danger but realistically too far away to challenge for a European berth.

In truth, they have never really recovered from losing their Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic last summer.

On a brighter note, Rodrigo Muniz scored twice as they claimed their first Premier League win of 2024 last weekend to defeat and move above Bournemouth in the table.

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It was only their second victory from eight league fixtures since registering back-to-back 5-0 victories in early December.

Ahead of this weekend, Calvin Bassey, Fode Ballo-Toure and Alex Iwobi should have returned from the African Cup of Nations, although Raul Jimenez remains sidelined with a thigh injury.

Villa, meanwhile, suffered a huge blow last weekend when midfielder Boubacar Kamara sustained an injury and was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign. Meanwhile, Ezri Konsa is also sidelined for at least another four weeks due to a knee sprain.

Perhaps they will be pleased to be on their travels for Villa have lost their last three home games in all competitions but won two of their last four on the road.

On Sunday they dropped out of the top four having returning to the Champions League positions a week earlier with an emphatic 5-0 win over Sheffield United yet still sit in fifth, within touching distance of the top four and Champions League football, a position which they must have dreamed off this time last year.

The first question in Emery’s post match press conference after they were edged out by Manchester United on Sunday served up a chance for the Villa manager to rattle through the positives. He picked out the number of chances his side created – they had twice as many shots on goal as United – and labelled this his side’s most complete performance of the season, but for their win here against champions Manchester City.

Despite the performance they’ve put into the Premier League game, Aston Villa were denied a win against Man United — Aston Villa’s Clement Lenglet looks dejected after the match against Manchester United

Then, almost 90 seconds later, came the telling line. “But the result was not good and we have to accept it”.

They will surely know that, as long as they keep creating chances, goals will come and they are on an upward trajectory.

While they remain in the Europa Conference, securing a top four finish would be a bigger achievement than winning Europe’s third tier competition.

Victory against Fulham would keep them on course but, on their day, Silva’s side, can be a match for anyone.

History

Historically, this is a match-up which is as a close as you can get.

Villa have 27 victories, Fulham 26 and there’s been a further 22 draws.

Their very first clash came in the FA Cup quarter-finals in March 1905, a tie Villa won 5-0 at Villa Park.

The scorers that day were Joe Bache, Harry Hampton (two), Albert Hall and Joe Pearson

The most recent clash came in November when John McGinn and Ollie Watkins, plus an own goal, sealed a 3-1 home win at the same ground. Jiminez netted the Cottagers’ consolation.

In this corresponding fixture last season, Fulham rode roughshod over Villa.

That night, Harrison Reed, Mitrovic and an own goal sealed a 3-0 success for the Cottagers and prompted Villa bosses to fire Steven Gerrard and hire Emery.

Arguably, their most high-profile meeting was the 2018 Championship Play-Off final at Wembley when Tom Cairney scored the only goal to earn promotion for Fulham.

They also met in a pre-season friendly in Florida. For the record, that encounter was won 2-0 by Villa, thanks to goals from Jaden Philogene and Moussa Diaby.