Aston Villa V Fulham

English Premiership 2009/2010 – Game Week 4

Aston Villa V Fulham

Kick-Off: Sunday 30^th August – 16:00 GMT

Venue: Villa Park

Aston Villa

League Position: 12^th

Recent Form: LW

You’d be surprised what a surprise result in your favour does for you and Villa manager Martin O’Neill will be hoping his sides victory over Liverpool in midweek will be the springboard his players needed to now push on this season. They fell short on the opening day of the season to a mini-shock themselves after losing 2-0 at Villa Park to Wigan Athletic but that huge win over Liverpool could and should be the boost in confidence the players obviously needed.

Aston Villa will once again be aiming to finish in the European places and more results like their one against Liverpool would see them go mighty close to completing those objectives. They may have got the rub of the green on the night but Villa were fully deserving of their victory as their season finally started heading in the right direction. However, they’d be fools to waste such an opportunity to build on such a magnificent result but they will need another ‘resistant’ display if they are to keep an improving Fulham side at bay.

If Villa can reproduce the same performance, effort, work rate and desire that they showed against Liverpool onto the pitch against Fulham, they would be very hard to beat in our opinion. They got lucky with their goals but their defending was first rate. They got bodies in the way of every short, they closed Liverpool down whenever they had the ball and gave Rafael Benitez’s side no time to build up any threatening attacks. Come the end, Villa actually won pretty comfortably.

Fulham

League Position: 13th 

Recent Form: WL

Roy Hodgeson, just like his counterpart, has European commitments also on his mind, although, Fulham seem more committed to the Europa League then their match day opponents. However, like Aston Villa, Fulham will want to return to Europe next season and they will also need a big season if they are to nick a European finish as this season looks as competitive as ever. They’ve made the best possible start with victory away at Portsmouth, albeit against a side seriously in trouble and by just a 1-0 scoreline, but their 2-0 defeat last weekend at home to Chelsea not only dented their bid to push up the table but also the winning momentum they had previously built up through their early victories in the league and in Europe.

Against Chelsea, Fulham were very ordinary. In all fairness, Chelsea never looked like dropping any points, with Fulham creating very little in terms of clear cut chances. It was always going to be a game Fulham would struggle in but they gave Chelsea a run for their money last season and many neutrals were hoping they would do the same this time around. That wasn’t the case and will Fulham’s loss of momentum cost them in their bid to win back-to-back away games?

Head-to-Head:

Aston Villa W: 2 Fulham W: 2 Draws: 6

This meeting, in the past, has literally been as close as they come. Neither side has managed to record an away victory in the last 10 meetings and that’s a bad omen for Fulham fans. Villa were held to a 0-0 draw at Villa Park last season by Fulham and three of the previous four encounters have ended in a share of the spoils, with 0-0 popping up twice.

Over 2.5 Goals – 4 Under 2.5 Goals – 6

I’m surprised that even four of the last ten meetings have produced a few goals as this has generally been a low scoring affair. Just one of those four games though were at Villa Park with the more entertaining affairs taken place at Craven Cottage (Fulham).

Match Verdict: Another dull DRAW – 13/5 SkyBet

The teams are evenly matched and the Head-to-Head record shows this. A draw has been a very popular outcome in recent history and we wouldn’t put anyone of backing that this weekend. Villa may come into this game with a superb, morale boosting victory behind them but Fulham won’t care for that. Roy Hodgeson will set his side up to frustrate Villa and this has the makings of another low scoring draw.

Match Odds:

Aston Villa – 4/5 Coral

Fulham – 17/4 Bet365

Draw – 13/5 SkyBet

SoccerBetting Tip: 0-0 Correct Score – 10/1 Bet365