Match Preview
Aston Villa vrs Fulham
Premier League Match Day 09 26_27 at Villa Park
Saturday 31st October 2026, KO: 20:00
Referee:
Samuel Barrott (West Riding)
Live on SkySports
|
Fulham and Aston Villa will be looking to secure a third consecutive Premier League win when they lock horns at Villa Park on Saturday evening.
Both sides are also bidding to bounce back from midweek exits from the EFL Cup fourth round, with the Cottagers suffering defeat at home to Crystal Palace and Villa losing at Bournemouth.
The pressure was gradually mounting on new Fulham boss Alvaro Arbeloa following a winless six-game start in the Premier League, but his team have since secured two morale-boosting 1-0 triumphs over Hull City and Coventry City.
Oscar Bobb netted a superb-match winner 10 minutes from time to seal maximum points at the CBS Arena last weekend, helping the Cottagers climb from 15th in the table, one point clear of crisis club Man United and only three points behind the top six at this early stage.
Fulham were unable to build on that success on Wednesday, though, as they were narrowly beaten 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup, despite having “three or four clear chances” to score in Arbeloa's view.
While a wasteful performance in front of goal – just their second of the season in all competitions without scoring – was a bitter pill to swallow, some may argue that a cup exit could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Fulham in their bid to preserve their top-flight status for the fifth season in a row.
The Cottagers, who are chasing three consecutive Premier League victories for the first time since December 2025, have only won one of their last seven meetings with Aston Villa (L6). However, that solitary success came in their most recent encounter, as a Ryan Sessegnon goal sealed a slender 1-0 home win in April.
Aston Villa’s slow start to the campaign is firmly behind them, and their historical knack for hitting their stride in autumn has resurfaced courtesy of an impressive 10-point haul from their last four Premier League matches.
Unai Emery’s side have only prevailed in two of their last 12 top-flight fixtures across the months of August and September (D5 L5), compared to winning eight of their last 10 matches in October and November (D1 L1), including back-to-back wins over Newcastle and Man City this term.
Villa became the first team to beat current leaders Man City last weekend, as in-form striker Nicolas Jackson scored twice in a 2-1 home victory to help the Midlands club rise to ninth in the Premier League table, just two points behind Chelsea in fifth spot.
However, Villa’s seven-game unbeaten streak in all competitions came to an end on Wednesday, as a much-rotated team fell to a 3-0 defeat against a high-flying Bournemouth outfit in the EFL Cup, missing out on a quarter-final spot for the seventh season in a row.
Keen to “move on” quickly from that minor setback, Emery will welcome this weekend’s fixture with Fulham, as he has won eight of his nine PL encounters against the Cottagers, averaging 2.67 points per game – only Pep Guardiola (three, won 12/12) and Mauricio Pochettino (three, won 6/6) boast a higher points-per-game ratio among managers to oversee five or more matches against Fulham.
|
`
`
Source Oliver Thomas at SportsMole