AVFC (Aston Villa) vs FUL (Fulham) Match Prediction
England
Villa Park
Aston Villa in their last game visited the City Ground as they faced off against Nottingham Forest. It was a horror start for Unai Emery’s men as Elanga easily went past Matty Cash to find Toffolo who squared it to Ola Aina to make it 1-0 to the hosts in just the 5th minute. Zaniolo had Villa’s first chance of the game as he headed Cash’s cross over Forest’s goal.
Zaniolo had another chance to equalise in the 36th minute after Diaby did well to find him. The Italian however failed to make most of his attempts. Villa was let off three minutes later as Dominguez should have done better with his attempt to beat Martinez and give the hosts a two-goal lead. Villa and Forest both had a penalty appeal each before halftime but both were overruled by the referee and VAR.
Vlachodimos did well to save Watkins’ effort just before halftime and keep Forest in the game. That save was crucial as a minute later Forest doubled their lead through Orel Mangala who did very well to finish past Emi Martinez in goal. Watkins once again had a decent chance to pull things back but his shot went wide of goal.
Diaby had a chance in the 68th minute after taking the ball on his lethal left foot. The shot however was not the best as Vlachodimos easily saved the effort. Forest in the end did very well to keep Villa at bay in the final minutes of the game and held on to get a big win in front of their home fans.
Fulham in their last game faced off against Manchester United at Craven Cottage. The Cottagers were not at their best and did nothing worrying to cause a form-depleted Manchester United any problems. Fulham’s best efforts to test Onana came from Willian and Harry Wilson. The Cottagers were fortunate that United's early goal got ruled out due to offside. They however could not hold Manchester United until the end as Bruno Fernandes scored a clutch goal to leave Fulham empty-handed on the day.
Facts:
- Aston Villa have been brilliant against Fulham FC in recent matchups. The Villains have lost just 1 of their last 4 games winning the remaining 3. Before this run, Villa had 3 wins against the Cottagers in their last 13 meetings drawing 5 and losing 5 of those games.
- The Cottagers have a very bad record at Villa Park in the Premier League. Fulham have won only 1 of their last 19 games, losing 11 and drawing 7 at Villa Park. Fulham has lost four consecutive games at Villa Park coming into this game. The last time Fulham won at Villa Park was way back in April 2014 in a 2-1 win.
- Aston Villa have been on the longest home-winning run in the Premier League since 1983. Villa currently has 12 consecutive wins and is on course to beat their tally of 13 consecutive wins from 1983. If Villa beat Fulham on Sunday, then they would have won their first 6 home games in the Premier League for the first time since 1932/33.
- Fulham do not tend to do well when they have to play an opposition that starts the game week in the top 6 in the Premier League. The Cottagers have just won 1 of their last 14 games against these teams. They have drawn once and lost on 12 occasions.
Aston Villa vs Fulham Chance of Winning
In the recent encounters between Aston Villa and Fulham, the head-to-head record between these two sides is dead even. In the last 25 games between these two teams, the Villains have won on 10 occasions, the Cottagers have also won 10 games and 5 games ended in a draw.
Nottingham Forest last week proved that Aston Villa can get at it. Steve Cooper got his tactics spot on against Aston Villa last week. Fulham can take advantage of that by setting up a deep block and suffocating the likes of Watkins and Diaby. Fulham have the defensive abilities to strangle teams but it is their attacking prowess that needs to improve. Fulham need to convert their chances better and take pressure off their defence. Fulham are never defending leads in most spells this season. Marco Silva has to find a way to change things for Fulham in these instances.
Aston Villa on the other hand have to keep doing what they do best at home and attack. Last week’s defeat to Forest hopefully looked like a blip in their good run. Their home form however is staggeringly good. Villa Park is sure to push them to do much better than their last game.
Based on all the statistics and analysis, we believe that Aston Villa go into this game as big favourites to beat Fulham at Villa Park on Sunday.
Aston Villa vs Fulham Predictions and Betting Tips
According to the bookmakers, Aston Villa goes into this game as heavy favourites to beat Fulham FC at Villa Park on Sunday. Villa goes into a game after tasting defeat for a long time. Unai Emery’s team however will be up for it at their home stadium come Sunday. Villa this season have been brilliant at home statistically.
They average 4 goals a game this season in their backyard. Villa’s stats suggest that we could see another barrage of goals from Watkins and co come Sunday. Villa is defensively also very sound at home conceding just 0.8 goals a game. Fulham on the flipside conceded 1.67 goals on an average away from home this season. Marco Silva’s men are not defensively bad but their problem is their goal-scoring outlets.
We do not expect Villa to score many goals. Villa to win the game by 2 goals is our call. We also do not expect Unai Emery’s side to score more than 4 goals on Sunday. In terms of clean sheets, Villa goes into this game as a favourite to keep their goal clean. Fulham have scored in 67% of their games when they play away this season. Villa on the other hand have kept clean sheets in only 20% of their home games this season.
Hence, we do expect both teams to score in this game on Sunday. Villa tends to average 59% possession at Villa Park this season. Fulham averages 41% possession when they play away. Hence, we do expect Villa to dominate this game possession-wise. Villa to have more than 55% possession is our call.
In terms of scoring Ollie Watkins will go into this game as the favourite to score. Watkins has been impressive this season having already scored 5 goals and assisted 5. Watkins also averages 2.64 shots per game so backing him to have more than 3 shots in the game on Saturday could get returns.
Fulham are struggling when it comes to scoring goals. The lack of a proper goal scorer is lacking. De Cordova-Reid and Joao Palhinha are their top scorers with just 2 goals each in the League. It is hard to find a Fulham player to back in terms of scoring but our pick in this game could be to back Willian. The Brazilian winger has scored just once in the Premier League this season but remains a big threat to the opposition. Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash could be quite attacking on Sunday which could allow Willian more space behind him in counter-attacking situations.
Final Prediction:Aston Villa to beat Fulham FC
Aston Villa Player List
Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez, Robin Olsen
Defenders: Matty Cash, Diego Carlos, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Alexandre Moreno, Calum Chambers, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Kortney Hause
Midfielders: Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Bertrand Traore, Emiliano Buendia, Phillipe Coutinho, Leon Bailey, Leander Dendoncker, Jacob Ramsey, Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans, Moussa Diaby, Jaden Philogene, Tim Iroegbunam
Attackers: Ollie Watkins, Jhon Duran, Cameron Archer, Keinan Davis, Nicolo Zaniolo
Aston Villa Playing XI
|
Player |
Role |
|
Emiliano Martinez |
Goalkeeper |
|
Matty Cash |
Defender |
|
Ezri Konsa |
Defender |
|
Pau Torres |
Defender |
|
Lucas Digne |
Defender |
|
John McGinn |
Midfielder |
|
Douglas Luiz |
Midfielder |
|
Boubacar Kamara |
Midfielder |
|
Moussa Diaby |
Attacker |
|
Ollie Watkins |
Attacker |
|
Leon Bailey |
Attacker |
Aston Villa Team Form(Last five games): L, W, W, D, W
Fulham Player List
Goalkeepers: Marek Rodak, Bernd Leno, Steven Benda
Defenders: Kenny Tete, Calvin Bassey, Tosin Adarabaioyo, Fode Ballo-Toure, Tim Ream, Timothy Castagne, Issa Diop, Antonee Robinson
Midfielders: Harrison Reed, Tom Cairney, Andreas Pereira, Joao Palhinha, Sasa Lukic, Tyrese Francois, Luke Harris
Attackers:Harry Wilson, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Carlos Vinicius, Raul Jimenez Adama Traore, Rodrigo Muniz, Alex Iwobi
Fulham Playing XI
|
Player |
Role |
|
Bernd Leno |
Goalkeeper |
|
Timothy Castagne |
Defender |
|
Tim Ream |
Defender |
|
Calvin Bassey |
Defender |
|
Antonee Robinson |
Defender |
|
Joao Palhinha |
Midfielder |
|
Harrison Reed |
Midfielder |
|
Alex Iwobi |
Midfielder |
|
Willian |
Attacker |
|
Raul Jimenez |
Attacker |
|
Bobby De Cordova-Reid |
Attacker |
Fulham Team Form(Last five games): L, D, L, W, L
Aston Villa vs Fulham Head-To-Head
Matches Played:74
Aston Villa wins:26
Fulham wins:26
Matches are drawn:22
Aston Villa vs Fulham Betting Odds
Aston Villa to win the match (PARIMATCH): 1.60.
Fulham to win the match (PARIMATCH): 5.70.
Match to end in a draw (PARIMATCH): 4.20.
The betting odds have been calculated based on team performances in previous matches, player records etc. Odds are subject to change.
Our Prediction
Favorites to win
Aston Villa
Villa however this season at home has had a perfect record and has bull-dozed past teams. Unai Emery will want a performance from Aston Villa on Sunday to right their wrongs from last week.
Fulham on the other hand also could not take advantage of a struggling Manchester United side. Marco Silva’s men did not do enough to put the Red Devils under the cloche. They were heading for a good draw but a lapse in judgement in the end cost them the three points.
The problem for Fulham going into any game this season is how they replace the goals Mitrovic scored for them last season. This is not going to be an easy game for Marco Silva’s men. We expect this game to be heavily dominated by Aston Villa and hence we are going with a 3-1 home win.
Parimatch