Fulham V Aston Villa Betting: Saturday, 30th January

Fulham V Aston Villa

Saturday, 20^th January – 15:00 GMT

Fulham

League Position: 10th

Recent Form: DLLLL

Roy Hodgson has worked wonders since his arrival at Craven Cottage back in December, 2007 in which he has converted Fulham into a mid-table side oppose to the old relegation threatened club they used to be. However, Fulham are going through their worst spell of the season, losing four on the bounce in the league, and Hodgson will need to pull off yet another minor miracle as he attempts to guide Fulham out of this rut. 

Fulham’s fourth league defeat in a row came at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, and while the defeat will have left a sour taste in the fans mouths, the bigger picture is that Fulham aren’t playing the sort of football that seen them settle into the upper half of the table just a month or two ago. The performances have been wayward and with this so has their results. A losing run will always dampen the spirits of any dressing room but it will hurt Fulham more than most as they don’t have the biggest of squads and they have been a team that have thrived on confidence beaming runs this season.  

Some might say only a win will do for Fulham as they aim to end a run of four straight defeats in the league but a draw would be a creditable result considering their opponents are now Carling Cup finalists and a serious top four challenger. However, they will need to improve leaps and bounds if they are to knick a result but, however, we cannot disregard the fact that Fulham’s four league defeats in a row have all been away from their beloved Craven Cottage. A venue they’ve lost just twice at all season. In fact, Fulham haven’t lost a home fixture in the Premiership since late September when they lost 1-0 to Arsenal.  

Fulham’s home form has been very strong this season and stands in at a healthy 6-2-2. They boast some staggering wins over the best in England; beating both Liverpool (3-1) and Man Utd (3-0). However, a four match run without picking up a single point will do some damage, regardless of where they came, and it remains a big ask for Fulham to end their point drought with a win on Saturday. After all, they haven’t a home game since the 19^th of December, although what a win that was; an emphatic 3-0 victory over the league champions, Man Utd. However, Fulham have played a game at the Cottage for over a month, such is the timespan between their last home fixture that they could get lost finding Craven Cottage, let alone turning up and beating Aston Villa.

Aston Villa

League Position: 7th

Recent Form: WLLDD

With the race for fourth really beginning to hot up, Martin O’Neill will be fully aware that his Villa side, after suffering back-to-back defeats from Arsenal & Liverpool, can’t afford to relinquish many more points and so a game against a Fulham side which hasn’t stopped losing is an ideal opportunity to scratch of one of their remaining away fixtures left to play with a win.

Aston Villa only had to wait a month before they had the chance to gain some revenge over Arsenal for their 3-0 defeat at The Emirates a little over a month ago. However, Villa didn’t seize on the opportunity and ended up playing out a 0-0 draw. A game which failed to live up to expectations. However, Villa did have their chances, some clear cut, and could of clinched all three points with some clinical finishing. A draw, though, was a fair result and a good result as that’s one less tough fixture for Villa to play this season.

However, there is a problem arising in that Villa have now gone four games, 360 minutes, without a win in the league. Not since their narrow 1-0 victory at home to Stoke City have Villa celebrated a Premiership win, going a month and then some without a league victory. Such a run has the potential to damage any clubs chances of reaching their respective goal and it’s a time when they Villa players need to show plenty of character and maturity. The latter, however, is an attribute Villa have lacked at times but they will need some wise heads for them to end their baron run at Craven Cottage – A venue they haven’t won at in their last five visits.

Villa don’t have very good record at Craven Cottage having not won their since their 2-1 victory in 2004. However, times have changed and Villa do have far more talent on show than their London opponents, The problem being that Fulham have improved immensely in such a short space of time and have rapidly become an awkward opponent on their own soil. We said earlier that a draw would probably satisfy Fulham and the same could be said for Villa because getting a win would require a lot of hard work and perhaps a slice of good fortune.

Match Verdict: Draw – 3.40 SkyBet

We think this will be a stalemate between two sides who have recently gone off the boil. Villa outshine their opponents in the quality department but Fulham’s record at Craven Cottage this seasin is too strong to simply ignore and so a draw is the safest bet to what is a tough game to predict. What’s more, neither manager would begrudge a share of the spoils before kick-off considering their recent slumps in form.

Match Odds:

Fulham – 2.80 PaddyPower

Draw – 3.40 SkyBet

Aston Villa – 2.88 Bet365

SoccerBetting Value Pick: 0-0 Correct Score – 9.50 SkyBet