Fulham vs Aston Villa: Match preview, team news, predicted line-ups, key players, and match prediction

This weekend sees Unai Emery's men travel to Craven Cottage to take on 8th place Fulham. Villa come into the game having drawn their last two league games against Ipswich Town and Manchester United but sit 5th having lost just one of their opening seven matches. A win for Villa would take them to 17 points and potentially a spot in the top four by the end of the weekend. A win for Fulham, however, would see them go level on points with Villa after an equally impressive start to the season for the London club.

Head-to-head record

Since the turn of the 21st century, Villa and Fulham have met 38 times across the Premier League, Championship and FA Cup. Villa have won 42% of those meetings, with Fulham winning just 29%. One of Fulham's most notable victories in recent years came in the Championship play-off final in 2018. when a Tom Cairney goal doomed Villa to another year in the second division. However, after gaining promotion the following year they have since beaten Fulham on five of the seven occasions they have met.

Thanks to @AVFCStatto we are able to see the last five results between the two sides. Villa have a good recent record against their opponents, particularly under Unai Emery since he took over as manager of the club. Villa have won each of their three games against Fulham during Emery's reign at Villa. Their last defeat against the Cottagers came back in October 2022, Steven Gerrard's final game in charge of Aston Villa before he was sacked and subsequently replaced by the four-time Europa League-winning Spaniard.

Fulham's bright start to the new season

Fulham have started the new season well after a successful summer transfer window. The signings of Emile Smith-Rowe and Reiss Nelson from Arsenal have helped to bolster the attack, whilst the recruitment of Joachim Andersen from Crystal Palace and Sander Berge from Burnley have added much-needed quality to the defending third.

Only losing to Manchester City and Manchester United this season, Fulham have looked strong. Wins against Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Leicester as well as draws with Ipswich and West Ham see them sitting on 11 points, which is three more than they had at this stage last season. They also possess an unbeaten home record so far this season, so Villa will have to perform at the top of their game if they are to come away with the points. Fulham fans seem hugely optimistic that this will be a better season based on the early signs from Marco Silva's team, so will be hoping to improve on their 13th-placed finish last season.

Team news

Aston Villa

Villa go into the game with an injury list so far this season that is almost as long as your weekly shopping list. Seven first-team regulars (not including Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara) have missed at least one Premier League game through injury already this season and many of those players are unavailable this weekend.

Skipper John McGinn remains out with a hamstring injury Jaden Philogene suffered an injury whilst representing the England under-21s and will be unavailable, and Jacob Ramsey is also unlikely to feature in the squad as he continues to battle with a groin injury.

According to @physioscout, it is a race against the clock for Ezri Konsa to see if he will be fit to play this weekend. The England defender suffered a minor hamstring strain in the draw with Manchester United two weeks ago and was forced to withdraw from the latest England squad. His durability over the years will give Unai Emery and the fans hope that he will be fit to play. Like Konsa, Amadou Onana also had to withdraw from international duty with a hamstring injury and he will face a late fitness test to determine whether he will be fit to start. He is believed to be ready to play some part from the bench at a minimum.

Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara are both in contention to make a return to the match-day squad after lengthy absences through ACL injuries. Mings teased Villa fans this week with a social media caption that reads, 'Been through it. Go time' suggesting that has is in line to return to action for the club.

Fulham

The major team news for Fulham sees midfielder Sasa Lukic sidelined after suffering a shoulder injury in the second half of Serbia's UEFA Nations League game with Switzerland last weekend. The central midfielder will likely miss at least the next four weeks of action.

Fulham will also be without both Carlos Vinicius and Jorge Cuenca. Vinicius will be absent with a calf injury whilst Spanish defender Cuenca will miss the game with an ankle injury. Both are thought to be weeks away from returning to action.

Joachim Andersen withdrew from the Denmark squad due to an unspecified knock and he is set to face a late fitness test ahead of kickoff. Issa Diop could therefore start at centre-back alongside Calvin Bassey if Andersen is not deemed fit to play.

Key players to watch

Ollie Watkins has an excellent recent record against Fulham, and no Villa player in the Premier League era has scored more goals for the club against The Cottagers (4). The Villa talisman proved his elite quality once again on the international stage with a game-changing performance off the bench for England against Finland in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday. With four goals and three assists in all competitions already for Villa this season, Watkins will be confident of scoring a goal or two this weekend on what will be his 400th professional club appearance.

Youri Tielemans has been Villa's player of the season so far. Tielemans produced a breathtaking assist for Ollie Watkins in this fixture last season and he will be confident that he can again boss the midfield and control the game for the away side. Playing against a team that averages less than 50% of the possession so far this season, the Belgian will look to have the ball as often as possible and dictate the play from his own third, something he has been doing brilliantly so far this season. He has also covered the most distance for Aston Villa in the Premier League this season (73.8km), evidencing his importance across all areas of the pitch.

For Fulham, they also had some star players produce great performances on the international stage this week. Raul Jimenez scored in Mexico's 2-0 win over USA on Wednesday and has four goals for Fulham in all competitions already this season. After a tough couple of years following his traumatic head injury in December 2020, he is beginning to show signs of the form that made him one of the league's best strikers when playing for Wolves. With two goals in his previous four appearances against Villa, he will be confident of continuing his fine start to the season in front of his home fans.

Andreas Pereira also scored for his country this week, bagging immediately after coming onto the pitch in Brazil's 4-0 win over Peru. The former Manchester United midfielder is often the architect of Fulham's attacking play and scored last time out away at Manchester City. He will relish the midfield battle with Youri Tielemans.

Predicted line-ups

Fulham: Leno, Robinson, Bassey, Diop, Tete, Iwobi, Pereira, Berge, Smith-Rowe, Traore, Jimenez

Aston Villa: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Tielemans, Barkley, Rogers, Bailey, Watkins, Duran

Match prediction

This will be a difficult game for Aston Villa. With the number of injuries starting to take its toll on the squad, they come up against a team that is performing well and is yet to lose at Craven Cottage this season. However, should Villa control the majority of the ball from early on, they will create chances and should have enough to win this game. I think it will be a tight game, but one they will take three points from.

Fulham 1-2 Aston Villa (Watkins, Tielemans)

UTV