Aston Villa look to make a winning return to Premier League matters on Saturday lunchtime, when hosting Fulham at Villa Park.
Unai Emery's side bowed out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage at Wembley last weekend with a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, having suffered late heartbreak at Manchester City four days prior when a stoppage-time strike from Matheus Nunes ended their five-match league winning run.
The Villans now enter the final four matches of the campaign hoping to maintain their charge for a top five finish to secure Champions League football again next season, currently sitting seventh, three points off fifth.
Marco Silva's side have enjoyed an impressive season, defying many of the pre-season odds to be sat just one place behind Villa in eighth with four games left.
The West London outfit will be looking to record back-to-back victories, having ended a run of two straight defeats against Bournemouth and Chelsea with a 2-1 win at relegated Southampton last weekend.
Stats
13 of Ollie Watkins’ 15 Premier League goals this season have either put Aston Villa ahead (7) or drawn them level (6) in the match, the highest percentage of any player to score more than 10 this term (87%).
Of all players to play at least 400 minutes in the Premier League this season, only Mohamed Salah (one every 66 minutes) is averaging a goal or assist more frequently than Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon (69 – 4 goals and 2 assists in 414 minutes).
John McGinn could make his 200th Premier League appearance in this match. He would be the 10th player to reach this milestone for Aston Villa, and the 16th Scotsman to do so in the competition.
Though Andreas Pereira has created more chances from set play than any other player in the Premier League this season (37), no team have scored fewer set piece goals (excluding penalties) than Fulham this season (5).
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has won all six of his Premier League games against Fulham. There are just four examples of a manager having more games with a 100% win rate against an opponent – Pep Guardiola vs Watford (10/10), Guardiola vs Fulham (9/9), José Mourinho vs Portsmouth (7/7) and Roberto Mancini vs Wigan (7/7).
Aston Villa are unbeaten in their last 16 Premier League home games (W9 D7), since losing to Arsenal in their opening game at Villa Park this term. It’s their second longest run in the competition, with both coming under manager Unai Emery (also 17 between March and December 2023).
None of Fulham’s last 14 Premier League games have been drawn (W7 L7), while their last two victories have come against the league leaders (3-2 v Liverpool) and the bottom side (2-1 v Southampton).
Aston Villa’s 2-1 defeat to Man City last time out ended a five-game winning run in the Premier League. They’ve only lost consecutive league games once in the last two seasons, doing so in November against Liverpool and Spurs.
Fulham have won just one of their last 20 away league games against Aston Villa (D7 L12), losing the last five in a row since a 2-1 win in April 2014.
Aston Villa have won six of their last seven Premier League games against Fulham (including the last four in a row), with the exception being a 3-0 away defeat in October 2022.
The Last Meeting
The Villans will be looking to complete a league double over Marco Silva's side, having triumphed 3-1 in West London back in October, in this season's reverse fixture.
Villa were dealt an early blow when Bernd Leno's long punt upfield found Raúl Jiménez who finished past Emi Martínez to put the Cottagers ahead, but they found an instant response four minutes later when Morgan Rogers arrowed an effort into the bottom corner to equalise.
Fulham were then awarded a penalty just after the half hour when Matty Cash was adjudged to have handled Jiménez's header, but Martínez stood firm to heroically hold Andreas Pereira's spot kick.
That proved the game's turning point as the second period belonged to Unai Emery's men. Ollie Watkins crashed a header home from Youri Tielemans' corner before Issa Diop turned Lucas Digne's cross into his own net, either side of Joachim Andersen's dismissal for dragging Watkins to the floor.
The win took Villa up to fourth in the Premier League table, and signified their best start to a season after eight games since 1998/99 with victory over Fulham.
Team News
Unai Emery will be without the services of Marcus Rashford, after confirming the forward would be absent through injury, having missed last weekend's trip to Wembley.
Villa will be able to welcome Axel Disasi back to their ranks, the defender having been cup tied against Palace.
Marco Silva confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Fulham may not see Rodrigo Muniz in action again this season, with the striker set to miss Saturday's clash with an achillies problem.
Antonee Robinson will be back for the Cottagers having missed last week with a knee injury, though Reiss Nelson is still out with a thigh issue.
Managers' Pre-Match Thoughts
“We have to be together tomorrow. We have to get our best energy through our supporters, transmitting, as well, our energy and trying to play consistently like we are playing in Villa Park. Tomorrow, we will need them. Tomorrow, we have to get there smiling, focused, and together.”
Unai Emery
“Big, big game. Big, big game for us, and I really believe it’s a big game for Villa too. An amazing place to play football, a great environment to be in. The pressure from the Villa supporters is going to be big. It’s a great challenge for us, another great test. We really love to play in these types of games, and we need to step in and show our quality.”
Marco Silva
