Fulham V Aston Villa Premier League Match

Fulham striker Andrew Johnson is ruled out the match as is Paul Konchesky and Clint Dempsey.

Chris Smalling is expected to remain in defence even though he will join champions Man Utd in the summer.

Aston Villa are without Stephen Warnock, who currently has a shin injury.

Nigel Reo-Coker is also expected to be out for around three months with an ankle injury he picked up in training.

Match Preview

Aston Villa are now entering a crucial stage of their season that could potentially “make or break” their challenge for a place in the Champions League  according to Martin O’Neill, their manager.

Villa are currently sitting pretty 4 points away from fourth spot and finish January with today’s visit to Craven Cottage before their season defining matches against Spurs and Manchester United at the beginning of February. The results in these matches, particularly the game against Spurs could shift the balance one way or another in the fight for 4th place.

Even though last week they reached their first Wembley final for a decade, Aston Villa’s Premier league form has dipped at an alarming rate. Although they performed relatively well in their previous game against Arsenal,  it Continued Villa’s cycle of 4 games win, during which time they have only picked up 2 points, not the form you would expect of champions league challengers. Even more importantly, they have not scored in any of their last 4 games, their attack really needs to return to form before it is too late.

Fulham have also suffered their own drastic dip in form. They have lost their last 4 matches and have gone 5 games without a victory since their 3-0 victory of Man Utd in December.

Roy Hodgson’s side however remain unbeaten at the fortress that is Craven Cottage since September and have not losta home game against Villa since February 2004.

I would recommend all watch Fulhan v Aston villa on MOTD tonight!