Fulham at Aston Villa

Match time for this one is Easter Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Since a recent Gallup poll showed for the first time in American history less than 50% of us say we belong to a house of worship, I guess it doesn't matter anymore.
I'll catch it on a re-stream at some point, but the task is the same: win. We hit the skids a bit before the lengthy international break, reverting to one point or none. We went one, oh and three in March, and we only got three points for beating Liverpool.
I don't see how you do not start Mitro after his peformances for Serbia over the break. Whatever kind of funk he was in, if it was one, he's out of, for sure. Maja hasn't scored since his full debut brace at Goodison Park, so why not give AM a chance to redeem himself? If he's on, he can carry a team, like he did the second half of 2017-18 when we got him from Toons in the January window. I don't know if we're good enough offensively to get him as many scoring chances as he/we need, but I truly don't see how you don't start him. The defending has also slipped in recent weeks, got to get that fixed first before we talk about any scoring schemes.
Eight matches left to pass whoever's in 17th. One point at a time isn't going to cut it anymore. It's gotta be three points or bust from here on out. Which means we'll probably set some sort of record for draws in a PL season and end up going down...again. It's crunch time. Let's see if this bunch has any fight in them.

 

My Church is having an in-person service this Sunday for the first time in 13 months, but I can't watch it live and will have to watch the replay in the evening. This situation fortunately allows me to avoid having to choose between God and Fulham.

Aston Villa have been pretty poor without Jack Grealish, but of course he's likely to return from injury just in time for Fulham. Hopefully he's a little rusty because they are an entirely different team when he's in top form. Another thing to hope for is that Villa realize they don't have much to play for. They are seven points out of the playoff spots - and with Liverpool and Arsenal both threatening to take playoff spots from outside the top six the odds of making the Europa League are even worse. Villa is one of those teams that is comfortably mid-table who's players can afford to be lazy or be more concerned about playing for their national teams.

 

My wife took the 5 year old across state to visit her friend, so my Easter morning is clear. Do I spend it at a bar or wait for the replay on peacock. Tough choices.

 

Simple answer Brad...both! Well as long you get to see 3 points at the bar.

 

Nervous about this game as we kick off. I think we'll get the 3 points but nothing would shock me after the terrible Leeds performance

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On the freeway listening to the match on Sirius. Granted they are Villa announcers, but sounds we might of gotten a break right before half on the VAR (we were due if it was a bad call). Now let’s take advantage!!

 

Got a break in the sense that the ref wasn't stubborn in his decision. It was one of those that LOOKS like a pen but isn't actually a pen

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What a fucking collapse in this game. Disgraceful

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I haven’t had a chance to see any of the match or highlights, but clearly the defensive regression was not mitigated by the international break. At least Mitro scored, but even if he goes on the kind of tear we all know he’s capable of, it won’t matter if we can’t revive the defending.

 

Not many positive to take away. We were gifted a goal and collapsed in the end. Terrible.

 

Scott has learned from mistakes before, hopefully he will learn from this one

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The highlights if you dare:


I agree with Hatter that Fulham got way too defensive after Mitrovic's goal but I didn't have the same positive feelings in the first half. Fulham did create a couple of opportunities, especially early on, but they just couldn't give Martinez anything to worry about. I really didn't think Fulham was going to score. A bad decision by Mings and perseverance from Mitrovic earned Fulham a goal that I don't think they deserved. Given Parker's excellent record at getting points after taking a lead, I was hopeful after the goal, but I think he waited just a little too long to make subs. The defense had been doing a lot of work playing up from the back and they looked tired. It appeared Parker had decided to put Robinson on just before the goal was scored. Villa had already made three changes at that point and Fulham needed some fresh legs. Not playing up from the back and playing more in Villa's half would have been good ideas too.

More disappointing than the loss itself is the poor form Fulham has shown against both Leeds and Villa. Prior to those matches I thought Fulham had a good shot at staying up. I don't think that anymore. They've lost their defensive control and they still can't score - that is a losing combination. To stay up I think Fulham needs to win four more matches. That's doable, but I don't think it is something this team will actually do given their recent performances.

 

The only other time worse for Fulham to regress like this would be May. So, there's still time for Parker and squad to unbork this. Nonetheless, oof marone. What a sloppy match compounded by another 10 minute spell of defensive doom.

Sure the opposition is good, but the past 3 matches have revealed some major frailties with this squad that must be arrested now. 3 straight Ls with 2-8 GF/GA. That's really bad!

Wolves is an absolute must win; if not mathematically then certainly psychologically.

 

A definite setback. But I'm trying to stay optimistic. We don't have to be faster than the lion, just faster than the slowest among the fleeing pack. While it would be great to secure survival sooner, I expect a game for all the marbles against Newcastle on the last day.

 

At 26 years of age, Aleksandar Mitrović has become Serbia’s all-time leading goalscorer with 41 goals in 64 appearances.