A few weeks ago we hoped that with a few wins as well as easing our relegation tension would also drag teams into the relegation battle with us. Mission achieved. Now Villa fans are experiencing the rare taste of positivity, and after beating Stoke a win against Fulham would have us mere points from safety. Fulham, however, will now be thinking of maximising their prize-money in terms of final league position. Their form is decent, so it’ll be tough.
Match Difficulty Grade
B Villa have always done well against Fulham, so this could be a realistic opportunity to make it four wins in five, but…there’s still life in Berbatov yet.
Form is Temporary
Current Premier League form table (last six games) – Aston Villa – 11th / Fulham – 6th
Aston Villa: Last five Premier League matches at home: W 2, L 3
Fulham: Last five Premier League matches away: W 1, D 2, L 2
In the last five meetings at Villa Park, Villa have won three times and drawn twice.
Facts to Sweep Under the Carpet
There’s improvement, but the fact remains that we have won just two of the last nine home games. In contrast, Fulham have done okay on their travels and before losing to Newcastle last weekend, they had snatched points from Sunderland, Tottenham and QPR in recent fixtures. Shackling Berbatov for 90 minutes, considering the amount of goals we have conceded at home (24), could be a tough task for the Villa defence.
What We Pray the Football Gods Will Provide
The spirit Villa have shown recently has been impressive, and nobody emphasized this as much as Nathan Baker when he was on the receiving end of a high-speed football to the face. There’s an admirable amount of hunger and desire about Villa’s approach at the moment and we saw it sustained over a FULL 90 minutes last weekend. More importantly though, if Villa can score another goal as spectacular as Lowton’s screamer in front of a booming Villa Park, it would be truly wonderful.
Why Villa are Totally 100% Going to Win
Explore the many corridors of the Internet and there is a pleasing consensus that Villa are going to win this game. The positivity in recent performances has been contagious – many pundits are praising the style of football Lambert is bringing to Aston Villa. We’ve seen enough in recent weeks to believe Villa have the quality that the teams below and around us lack, and a win against Jol’s side would be a vital step in nearing Premier League safety. If the results went our way we could even finish Saturday evening in 14th place. With three points on Saturday, we’ll soon start to cast eyes to the brighter dawn of next season. UTV.
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