Aston Villa vs. Fulham
Venue: Villa Park
Kick off: 4:30PM
Aston Villa take on Fulham in the Premier League today, with the visitors desperately looking for a victory which could take them out of the relegation zone.
Villa, meanwhile, may need to avoid defeat to remain in the top half of the table for another matchday.
Villa have only won one of their last seven matches to fall to 10th in the table, with the absence of their injured talisman Jack Grealish hitting Dean Smith’s side hard during that period.
The Villains have scored only three goals in the six matches the England midfielder has missed with a shin injury, but Grealish could finally be fit to return and provide a timely boost against Fulham today.
Villa started brightly against Tottenham Hotspur last time out but lacked an offensive cutting edge once again, with Carlos Vinicius applying the finishing touch to a fine team move from the visitors.
Harry Kane and Lucas Moura proved a little too hot for Villa’s defence to handle on the day, with Kane doubling Spurs’ lead from the penalty spot after Matty Cash had needlessly brought the England captain down.
One man who should return from the international break full of confidence is Ollie Watkins.
The Villa striker has failed to score for his club since Grealish was injured, but the 25-year-old joined the one cap, one goal club for England – for the time being at least – after scoring against San Marino on his international debut last week.
Fulham, meanwhile, will be desperate to bounce back after suffering damaging back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Leeds prior to the international break.
Currently lying two points behind 17th-placed Newcastle United, who also have a game in hand on Scott Parker’s side, time is running out for the Cottagers to pull off an excellent escape from relegation, having looked destined for the drop early in the campaign.
Parker could have no complaints with either defeat, with uncharacteristic soft defending costing his side dearly across both games.
Patrick Bamford fired Marcelo Bielsa’s side ahead with a powerful finish after Tosin Adarabioyo had lost the in-form forward in the penalty area, before Raphinha pulled the visitors ahead again after Joachim Andersen had equalised from a corner.
Three of Fulham’s remaining eight fixtures are against members of the traditional big six (Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United), so every match represents a cup final for Parker’s side between now and the end of the campaign in their quest to survive what would be a third relegation to the Championship in only eight seasons.
They would certainly receive a major boost should Grealish’s name be absent from Villa’s starting XI once again.
Aston Villa possible XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, Luiz, McGinn, Traore, Barkley, Grealish, Watkins.
Fulham possible XI: Areola, Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Robinson, Reed, Anguissa, Reid, Loftus-Cheek, Lookman, Mitrovic.
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