Fulham vs. Aston Villa

Fulham hosts a mid-week match today at 2:30pm EDT against Aston Villa. The match will be on USA network.

With just one point after the international break Fulham is starting to get reeled back into the relegation fight zone. Aston Villa are just barely out of the drop zone, but could move ahead of Fulham in the table with a victory. A win for Fulham would get them back into the top half of the table.

After a terrible start in August with four losses and one win, Villa have only lost once - and that was last week against Chelsea due to brief moments of shockingly bad defense from the normally reliable Mings and then Martinez. Unfortunately for Fulham, Villa are starting to develop some confidence and are playing more to their potential.

Fulham will again be without Tete and this could be the deciding factor in the match since Fulham has been unable to find defensive stability without him. And once again I hope that Mbabu is given a start over DeCordova-Reid since I don't think he's solid enough defensively. Rather than James on the right wing, I'd like to see Wilson or Willian start and then replace each other in the second half if they aren't up to full match fitness.

I'm feeling a bit down going into this match think we'll witness another disappointing draw.

 

The confidence has certainly taken a downturn recently, for this fan at least. I’m really hoping they can turn some of the positives in possession from the Bournemouth match and build on them by putting a few more balls in the net.

I had hoped that Bournemouth’s scoring record (or lack there of) would help cure Fulham’s defensive woes. Unfortunately, I feel that the opposite happened and Bournemouth probably benefited more from the draw than Fulham. I’m not quite sure what to expect today, though I’d wager a guess that Villa may likely increase their goals per game (at least until Fulham can show me that they’ve strengthened their defenses).

The match is at the Cottage so that should be a plus but, like Micah, I’m thinking draw (while hoping for a win).

 

I want a clean sheet. I'd settle for the draw if I could have that.

 

I concur most heartily and vigorously with the right honourable gentleman from Saint Louis. We are in dire need of a clean sheet. And Villa at home (which is sold out) is doable. Little Stevie G’s men ain’t threats for Europe.

 

And, just an observation: I haven’t seen anything yet from Diop to warrant his selection over Tosin at center back.

 

Positive half. That clean sheet we really, really need would mean 3 points we really, really need.

 

The highlights:


Since the replay won't be available until 5pm tomorrow I followed the game feed. Based on that it seems like Fulham deserved the win despite a questionable red card, a penalty that should have been saved, and an own goal - and a goal from Reed?! I'm glad that Fulham could come out and boss a match and get a clean sheet.

Gerard couldn't even get home before he was sacked. I don't think I fully appreciated how bad things had gotten at Villa. I thought things were looking up for them, but that now seems to have been wildly optimistic.

Now time to kick another team who's down - Leeds.

 

We played very well. Decent on defence. Creative offensively. Willian looked very good. Excited for Sunday.

 

Fulham was better in every facet of the game. Should have scored 6. Diop made me nervous, though—uncertain on the ball. BDR did great at RB, but that could be because Villa presented no threat on that side. He was my MOM because he really unbalanced Villa and caused spaces to open elsewhere.

 

We took care of business today. Nobody cares if things aren’t going well for your opponent…and they obviously aren’t at Villa. But you still have to put the shift in with determination and character. We did that today. It’s definitely something to build on. Lord knows we’ve been on the other side of this scenario too often in recent seasons. Feels good to be the hunter instead of the hunted.

 

Impressive performance. The Cottage looked spectacular in the aerial shot before the game.

 

I concur with the right honourable gentleman from the California Republic.