Fulham vs Aston Villa Preview & Prediction | 2023-24 English Premier League
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THE FACTS
When is Fulham vs Aston Villa on and what time does it start? Fulham vs Aston Villa will take place on Saturday 17th February, 2024 – 15:00 (UK)
Where can I get tickets for Fulham vs Aston Villa? Visit each club’s official website for the latest ticket information
What TV channel is Fulham vs Aston Villa on in the UK? Television rights for the Premier League in the UK are shared between Sky Sports, TNT Sports and Amazon Prime so it is worth checking their schedules for Fulham vs Aston Villa
Where can I stream Fulham vs Aston Villa in the UK? If Fulham vs Aston Villa is televised, then it can be streamed on either Sky Go, discovery+ or Amazon Prime Video depending on who is broadcasting the match
THE LOWDOWN
FULHAM
Marco Silva would have been concerned that after Fulham had a fairly quiet January transfer window at the same time as being knocked out in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup and then the fourth round of the FA Cup, there would have been a possibility that The Cottagers spent the rest of this season just drifting and coasting along.
However, that was emphatically not the case last weekend as they produced an impressive 3-1 defeat of AFC Bournemouth at Craven Cottage with Bobby Decordova-Reid and a brace from Rodrigo Muniz, who now has three in two starts this season after scoring in their 2-2 draw against Burnley a few weeks ago, proving to be the difference.
ASTON VILLA
Prior to Aston Villa’s 3-1 loss at home to Newcastle United at the end of January, The Villains were closing in on a whole year unbeaten in the Premier League at Villa Park. Their fortress, though, has been breached in three successive matches after a loss to Chelsea in their FA Cup fourth round replay last week was followed up by losing 2-1 at home to Manchester United.
Aston Villa have been very impressive throughout the campaign and are still in the hunt for a top four finish but they had the opportunity to go 11 points clear of sixth placed Manchester United but that gap has now been closed to five. They do also have the added complication of playing UEFA Europa Conference League knockout football next month.
THE TEAM NEWS
FULHAM
Marco Silva has confirmed that, unlike Ola Aina with Nottingham Forest, Nigerian duo Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi will return immediately to Fulham's first-team squad after the conclusion of the Africa Cup of Nations last weekend.
The former Hull City boss said that means he has more or less a fully fit and available squad to choose from this weekend with the only absentee being Mexican international striker, Raul Jimenez, who was missing last week, too, through injury.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Castagne, Adarabioyo, Bassey, Robinson; Palhinha, Cairney; Decordova-Reid, Pereira, Willian; Muniz
UNAVAILABLE: Jimenez (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
ASTON VILLA
Aston Villa suffered from grim midweek news that a third player this season had gone down with an ACL injury with Boubacar Kamara set to miss the rest of the season. Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings have also suffered that injury but the latter returned to the first part of training this week as he continues his rehabilitation.
Another blow for The Villains is that defender Diego Carlos has been ruled out for 'three to four weeks', whilst Mings is still expected to miss the rest of the season. Jhon Duran and Ezri Konsa are also still unavailable due to injury.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Lenglet, Torres, Alex Moreno; Tielemans, Douglas Luiz; Bailey, McGinn, Ramsey; Watkins
UNAVAILABLE: Mings (Injured), Konsa (Injured), Carlos (Injured), Kamara (Injured), Buendia (Injured), Duran (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
THE PREDICTION
This one could well be a bit of a thriller at Craven Cottage. Fulham appear to have recovered well from stumbling a fair bit in recent weeks as they came up against a high line in AFC Bournemouth. No team consistently plays as high a line as Villa, though, so the likes of Willian and Rodrigo Muniz will be confident of exploiting that. Whilst Villa are currently performing below par but they have shown they are still more than capable of hurting opposition so both teams scoring looks a good bet.
TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
