Fulham Eye Upset Over Villa

Fulham vs Aston Villa - 04/01/2020

FA Cup | Preview

03/01/20

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The FA Cup third round has always been one of the highlights of the English football calendar. The first weekend in January sees 64 teams face off for a place in the next round of the competition and there are some cracking games to look forward to including Fulham vs Aston Villa.

While both teams have their eye on promotion and relegation battles this season, a good run in the FA Cup would be fantastic for either club and their fans.

Fulham are currently in 5th place in the Championship, 10 points off the automatic promotion places but in with a good chance of being in the playoffs. Aston Villa are in 17th place in the Premier League, one point clear of the relegation zone.

Fulham come into this match having lost 2-1 at home against Reading on New Year's Day. It was a disappointing result against the club in the bottom half of the table although Reading had been in good form coming into the match. Despite winning 3 of their last 5 home games, Fulham have not always found it easy to win at home this season tasting victory in 6 of their last 13 home matches.

FT: A disappointing start to the year for the Whites.

[1-2] #FULREA pic.twitter.com/DRzh01NoMR
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) January 1, 2020

This will be the first time Fulham have played in the FA Cup this season but they have been eliminated at this stage of the competition in the previous two seasons. Both defeats came at home and they will be hoping to improve on those results.

Aston Villa travel to Craven Cottage on the back of a good 2-1 win at Burnley in the Premier League on New Year's Day. That result was enough to see them move out of the relegation zone above Bournemouth and will give them plenty of confidence heading into 2020.

Trends show Aston Villa have won 3 of their last 5 matches in all competitions but only 3 of their last 9 games overall. In addition to the recent victory at Burnley, Aston Villa have defeated Norwich City at home in the Premier League and Liverpool at home in the League Cup, although the latter was against a reserve team.

Aston Villa have won only one of their last 7 away matches and have failed to keep a clean sheet away from home this season. They have failed to progress beyond this round of the FA Cup in their last three attempts.

Team news and Fulham are without injured defender Maxime Le Marchand plus have doubts over the fitness of Harry Arter, Alfie Mawson and Joshua Onomah.

Aston Villa could be without several first team players due to injury and rotation. Wesley Moraes, Tom Heaton, Matt Targett, John McGinn, Jed Steer and Keinan Davis are among those on the treatment table.

Fulham will be hoping to make home advantage count in this FA Cup tie but Aston Villa have enough about them to at least force a replay. A draw and both teams to score is a likely outcome to this game.

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