Fulham host top-four chasing Aston Villa at Craven Cottage in the Premier League.
Fulham will stay 12th with at least a draw but a win coupled with a heavy defeat for Wolves could see Marco Silva’s Cottagers climb up to 11th in the table.
Unai Emery’s Villa meanwhile can go fourth with a win if Tottenham fail to win elsewhere.
Team News
Tosin Adarabioyo is a doubt for Fulham after he missed their home win over Bournemouth with a knock
Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi (both international duty) could return but Kenny Tete (calf) faces a late fitness test.
Raul Jimenez (hamstring) remains absent.
Villa will be without Boubacar Kamara until the end of season after he suffered a knee injury during their defeat against Manchester United.
Diego Carlos (hamstring) is also ruled out and joins Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings (both knee), Jhon Duran (hamstring) and Emiliano Buendia (ACL) on the sidelines.
When is Kick-Off?
Fulham host Villa at Craven Cottage in a 3pm GMT kick-off on Saturday 17 February, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Fulham have won one of their last five meetings against Aston Villa (W1, L4).
- Aston Villa have won one of their last eight league visits to Fulham (W1, D2, L5).
- Both teams have won one of their last two clashes at Craven Cottage by a 3-0 result.
- Fulham have lost just one of their last six league matches at home (W5, D1, L1).
- No Villa player has producd more crosses in the league this season than Lucas Digne, who has made 115 crosses in 19 appearances.
Prediction
After clinically thrashing Bournemouth at home last weekend despite being largely outplayed in attack, Fulham do seem set for another comfortable mid-table finish but they can’t afford to let their home form slip because they could get into a scrap for an Europa Conference League spot.
Villa meanwhile will be happy to be back on the road following their slump at home because they were wasteful in their end product again, yet that sloppiness hasn’t crept into their away performances yet so I do expect them to come out fighting.
Kamara and Carlos though are two huge losses for Villa from a defensive perspective on top of Konsa and Mings, which should offer Fulham belief but I can see Emery’s Villains nicking a draw.
Prediction: Fulham 1-1 Aston Villa
Result: Fulham 1-2 Aston Villa
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