Fulham at Aston Villa

Fulham visits Aston Villa on Sunday, with the game kicking off on Peacock at 9am EST.

Based on Aston Villa's season this will likely be either a big win or a big loss for Fulham, but probably a big loss. I know that sounds vague yet ridiculous, but let me explain. Villa has only one draw. All of their wins, except against Chelsea, have been won with multiple goal margins while outscoring their opponents 23 - 6. However, in their three losses they have been spanked and scored only once to their opponents' 10 goals. The unfortunate news for Fulham is that Villa's stellar performances have all come at home where they are undefeated. Villa did struggle a little with the high press of AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League match on Thursday. They turned the ball over repeatedly in dangerous positions and put Martinez under pressure in goal. After falling behind 0-1 they staged a comeback and got a late winner from Watkins.

Fulham will try to bounce back after another frustrating loss to Manchester United. As always, the question will be who can score. Based on they way he left the pitch on Saturday, it won't be Muniz, the last person to score for Fulham. He walked off in tears after an injury that looked serious. Muniz only scored once in the EFL Cup, Vincius has scored once in the Premier League and once in the EFL Cup, and Raul hasn't scored at all. Last season Mitrovic had bagged 9 by this point. After 11 games last season Fulham had scored 19 times, this season only 9. It isn't hard to see where the missing goals went.

Other than Muniz, I expect the lineup to be the same with hopefully appearances off the bench for Tete and Traore who should be getting close to being fit again.

 

"Marco Silva believes losing Rodrigo Muniz to injury is a “big blow” for Fulham after the Brazilian striker was ruled out for “three to four weeks” with a knee injury."
"There was better news concerning Kenny Tete, Tosin Adarabioyo and Adama Traore. Silva confirmed that the trio are now back in full training, although they are not yet able to play a full 90 minutes. Defender Issa Diop, meanwhile, will require more time to recover from a foot injury. " https://theathletic.com/5052144/2023/11/10/rodrigo-muniz-injury-fulham-marco-silva/
Traore's been out so long that a recent question on his status posed by my son prompted me to remember he was even at Fulham. I think Villa possesses too much quality at the moment for Fulham to get anything from this match...but Forrest beat them recently, so there's enough hope floating around for me to wake up for the 6am kickoff.
COYW

 

I bought the new FIFA game (now EA FC) and based on my game against Villa, Raul will net his first goal. Pereira will also have a hat trick. We also get a clean sheet.

 

I choose to be optimistic. If Jimenez plays, I hope we finally start playing to his feet or into space, rather than crossing for headers. He's afraid to contest for the ball in the air, and it doesn't look like that's going away. If Vinicius plays, I hope good Vini shows up. It'll be one or the other -- Marco hasn't made any shocking decisions this year -- but I wouldn't mind seeing McFarlane get a few minutes at #9.

Fulham wins 2-0. Tim Ream and an own goal. I also bought a Powerball ticket today.

 

While I prefer the EA FC results, Aston Villa seem to be flying high at the moment and Fulham have drifted back to 16th in the table. Until Fulham start attacking differently I don’t trust them to score. Willian can only cut in so many times.

This will be the fourth match in a row that I will be watching via tape delay. It’s been that kind of month. Hopefully it’s worth the wait.

 

JIMENEZ!! Woooo hooooo!!!

 

One bright spot in an otherwise dreary performance. Especially the first half.

 

The overall result was not a surprise, so I'll take some satisfaction in the goal from Raul even if it didn't matter in the end (and let's not forget Martinez' fingertips saved a goal from Raul earlier). This sets up nicely for a fairy-tale turn when he faces his old team in Fulham's next match and comes away with a hat trick!

It was nice to see VAR finally get a call right for Fulham. That hand-ball call against Castagne was exactly how VAR is supposed to work. Too bad that it felt unusual when it happened.

That first goal was really unfortunate. I thought Leno had it covered and I was confused at first at how it even ended up in the net since I didn't see Robinson's touch. Prior to that things felt evenly matched, but from then until the end of the half Fulham seemed a bit shell-shocked.

The response in the second half was really positive and fun to watch, but given Fulham's inability to finish I never really thought it would change the end result. Still it was a gutsy showing that hopefully they can build off of.

 

I was wrong.

 

It happens.


But they did play to Raul's feet like you wanted!

 

Optimism isn't wrong...however, Fulham's ability to score is wrong (this time as noticed at the Guardian):
Fulham may be six points above a relegation zone that features all three promoted clubs but in goal-scoring terms they are in a battle with the bottom. Only Burnley have scored fewer than Marco Silva’s side’s 10 goals, even if Raúl Jiménez’s first Premier League finish in 20 months did provide a beacon amid the gloom at Villa Park. This time last season, Aleksandar Mitrovic had scored nine times, whereas now Antonee Robinson has scored as many own goals (2) as the club’s joint top scorers, João Palhinha and Bobby DeCordova-Reid. With Rodrigo Muniz injured, perhaps Jiménez can kick on. The standard of Fulham’s play is not a concern but the diminishing confidence is. Perhaps it is good for Fulham that the bottom four look as set for a relegation battle as they do. Peter Lansley

 

Robinson's name is on the scoresheet but, like @MicahMan, I question Leno. It almost looked to me like he avoided the ball. It was definitely within arm's reach but he kind of tucked back. I guarantee that Robinson never expected the ball to get past two other players to reach him.