Key events
Teams in full
Marco Silva, who may be wondering why his team have become so toothless, has gone for an attacking bench, with Issa Diop as the only defender bar Antonee Robinson, who loves to bomb forward. But among all the subs, Tammy Abraham still looks like the best bet for a late goal.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Sessegnon; Lukic, Berge; Wilson, Smith Rowe, Chukwueze; Jimenez.
Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Robinson, Cairney, Reed, King, Bobb, Muniz, Kusi-Asane.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Bogarde, Tielemans; McGinn, Buendia, Rogers; Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Mings, Lindelof, Maatsen, Douglas Luiz, Barkley, Sancho, Bailey, Abraham.
Teams in brief: no Onana for Villa
Unai Emery makes four changes. One looks enforced as Amadou Onana is missing altogether, presumed injured: his place at the back of midfield goes to Lamare Bogarde. Behind him, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne come in for Tyrone Mings and Ian Maatsen. Further forward, Emi Buendia replaces Ross Barkley.
Teams in brief: three changes for Fulham, Iwobi out
After the stalemate at Brentford this time last week, Marco Silva shuffles the pack. Sander Berge is back to join his partner in the pivot, Sasa Lukic, for the first time in ages. Raul Jimenez edges out Rodrigo Muniz as the spearhead and Samuel Chukwueze comes in on the left to replace Alex Iwobi, who has an injured hamstring.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the first Premier League game of the day. For both these clubs, it’s all about the European places.
Aston Villa, fourth in the table, are almost a shoo-in for the Champions League. They will go back up to third if they do better against Fulham today than Manchester United do against Brentford on Monday. And they have another route to the top table if they need it – winning the Europa League, something at which their manager, Unai Emery, is the world expert.
Marco Silva’s Fulham, who are 12th, are a long shot for Europe but still in a position to dream. If they win this game, they will clamber up to tenth, with perhaps only one more win needed to lift them to sixth. And, just to add sauce, a win today will leave them level on points with their chaotic neighbours, Chelsea.
But first Fulham have to remember where the goal is. They’ve drawn five blanks in their past seven games, scoring only against doomed Burnley and tottering Spurs. While Fulham have yet to break their duck for April, Villa have scored 12 times in the past 16 days. Last Sunday, in a rip-roaring fun-fest at Villa Park, they became the first team to score four against Sunderland this season (though not the last). After a slump that brought only 12 points from 12 league games, Villa have just collected seven from three – and, as a bonus, demolished Bologna.
The formbook fancies Villa, who won the reverse fixture 3-1 in September. But then Fulham win more often at home than Villa do away. They don’t have to rotate, they badly need the points, and the gods surely owe them a few goals, so it should be a good contest. Back soon with the teams.
