Fulham manager Marco Silva’s respect for Unai Emery means that he has not been surprised by Aston Villa’s start to the season.
Their home form has been flawless, with their five games at Villa Park yielding 15 points and 20 goals – in fact, you have to go back to February for the last time they dropped points on their own patch.
“Impressive, impressive,” was Silva’s assessment of their campaign to date. “I’m not surprised, because I know [Emery] very well, I know his quality, I know what he's been doing so far in all his career.
“I remember him from Seville, when it was the first time I played against him. Of course, the impact has been huge in that football club.
“All the results they have been achieving have been great for them. At home, it’s been impressive the way they have been so dominant and the way they have been playing against many, many sides, and different types of sides – so dominant and achieving some very good results, it’s been impressive.
“12 [home wins] in a row, this season five in a row as well. They haven't lost points until now – we want to be the first ones to do it.
“If you have five games at home and you score 20 goals, the numbers speak for themselves. It means they have been creating, they have been scoring, they're being really effective, ruthless in that type of situation.
“It’s up to us to keep our good organisation, to be aggressive off the ball. On the ball we have to express ourselves and to deliver what we are going to plan to do.
“It’s a challenge ahead of us, clearly. That’s the feedback that we are sharing with the players, and the players are sharing with us that we want to be the first ones.
“They want the opposite, they want to keep the same form, and it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
Asked if the opportunity to end Villa’s home run can be an incentive for the Fulham players, Silva replied: “100 per cent, and we like this type of challenge, to be honest.
“The first time we met after Man United, straightaway [the players] got my feedback, what was going to be our week, what is going to be our goal, what we want for the weekend as well. And we really enjoy this type of challenge.
“When you look on paper, of course you see Villa at Villa Park are amazing. A great atmosphere to play football, home support is going to be great, we know all these situations, but it’s a great place to go and to enjoy the challenge.
“We know their home form has been impressive, has been really good, but it’s a perfect challenge to test ourselves. To be at the level that we want to be, you have to play these type of games.”