Aston Villa look to boost their top-five ambitions as they host relegation-battling Fulham in a Premier League fixture at Villa Park.
Should Chelsea, Brentford and Leeds all fail to win elsewhere, victory could lift Villa as high as fifth in the table.
Fulham can leapfrog Villa with a win and move onto the cusp of the top ten depending on results elsewhere earlier in the day.
Team News
Villa have no fresh injury concerns to report following their 3-0 Carabao Cup exit at Bournemouth on Wednesday evening.
Matteo Ruggeri, Aaron Wan-Bissaka (both hamstring) and Amadou Onana (ACL) remain sidelined.
Fulham will welcome Emile Smith Rowe back into contention after he was left out of their last two matches as a precaution, due to a knock suffered prior to their 1-0 league win at Coventry last weekend which saw him left out of their 1-0 midweek Carabao Cup exit at home to Crystal Palace.
David Affengruber is a doubt due to a knock.
Ryan Sessegnon is serving the last of his three-match suspension.
When is Kick-Off?
Villa host Fulham at Villa Park on Saturday 31 October at 8pm BST, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Aston Villa have lost just one of their last seven league meetings against Fulham (W6, L1).
- Fulham have lost each of their last five Premier League trips to Villa (L5), of which three of those five defeats were by 3-1 results whilst the other two losses were by a 1-0 result.
- Villa beat Fulham 2-0 at Villa Park in their only previous meeting played on Halloween in 1964 in the Old First Division.
- Nicolas Jackson has scored three goals in Villa’s last two league matches at home (W1, D1).
- Fulham are yet to win a league match broadcast on UK TV this season (D1, L2).
Prediction
Although their recent seven-match unbeaten run ended at Bournemouth on Wednesday, Villa shouldn’t be too disheartened to be out of the cup because it is one less problem come mid-season, and this is the ideal chance to produce an immediate response.
Fulham likewise can take solace in their cup elimination because they’re in a relegation scrap currently, and the wasteful finishing in their loss to Palace is a concern coming into a game where they need their final touch on fine form if want any chance of beating Villa.
I however do think that Villa should be too strong with several regulars having been rested at Bournemouth, but Fulham still should give them a good scrap if the Cottagers are sharper.
Prediction: Aston Villa 2-1 Fulham