Fulham v Aston Villa predictions: Defensive issues may lead to high-scoring game

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Fulham v Aston Villa in the Premier League on Thursday.

Where to watch

Amazon Prime, 7.30pm Thursday

Best bet

Over 2.5 goals
2pts Evs bet365

Team news

Fulham
Nathaniel Chalobah is suspended while long-term absentees Layvin Kurzawa and Manor Solomon remain out. This game may also come too soon for Kenny Tete.

Aston Villa
Boubacar Kamara, Lucas Digne, Diego Carlos and Ludwig Augustinsson are out while Cameron Archer is a doubt. Tyrone Mings is likely to shake off his ankle injury in time for this clash.

Match preview

Pressure continues to mount on Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard after a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea edged them nearer to the relegation zone and left them with just two wins from their opening ten Premier League games.

Perhaps the most concerning aspect for fans of the Villans has been their lack of goals as only perennial low-scorers Wolves have netted fewer than their seven.

However, they couldn’t ask for a much better opponent to rediscover their goalscoring touch against than Fulham, who coming into this midweek slate of games had allowed the most expected goals, 19.9, and have conceded at least twice in all but two of their ten matches.

The Cottagers started the season well but have lost three of their last five games and were 2-1 down at home to Bournemouth on Saturday before an Aleksandar Mitrovic penalty rescued a point for the hosts.

In the absence of the injured Kenny Tete, Marco Silva has taken to playing Bobby Cordova-Reid, primarily known as a forward, at right-back.

That short-term fix demonstrates the defensive quality that this Fulham side are lacking and if Villa can’t take advantage, it could be curtains for Gerrard at the Midlands club.

A 2-1 win over Everton and a 1-0 victory against Southampton are the only wins of Villa’s league season and they have looked increasingly disjointed in attacking areas, culminating in their poor performance in their 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.

There were signs of improvement last time out against Chelsea, as they were repeatedly denied by an inspired performance by Kepa.

There is still the feeling however that Gerrard doesn’t know his best team or how to get the best out of this squad, the former Rangers manager has experimented with three different formations, 4-3-3, 4-3-2-1 and 4-4-2, this season.

The disappointing performances of Phillipe Coutinho have continued to confound, while neither Danny Ings or Ollie Watkins have staked a strong enough claim to be the main striker.

One bright spark from the season has been the continued good performances from youngster Jacob Ramsey, whose tenacity and ability has caused plenty of issues for Villa’s opponents.

Effective passages of play have been sporadic, however, and Gerrard’s men need to put in an impressive attacking performance to quell the calls for his sacking.

Luckily for them, Fulham’s back line may well provide the perfect opportunity for such a showing.