Credit: Imago

Cameron Smith

Wed 22 April 2026 12:10, UK

Aston Villa are looking to continue their charge for Champions League football as they face Fulham on Saturday afternoon.

Unai Emery’s side secured a big result against Sunderland last time out, with Tammy Abraham sealing a 4-3 win in the final moments.

The Villans would come close to losing against the Black Cats, though, with Habib Diarra missing a huge chance at the other end, before Abraham sent the Holte End into raptures.

Since returning from the international break, the B6 outfit have been in fine form, with comfortable European wins against Bologna coinciding with an unbeaten league run.

This leaves Villa fourth in the Premier League standings, with a sizeable gap to sixth, meaning that Champions League football is well within their grasp over the coming weeks.

Unai Emery to ring the changes ahead of Fulham clash

With Villa fighting for both their Champions League hopes and ambitions of winning the Europa League, Emery will have to make the best use of his squad across the coming weeks.

Following Saturday’s clash in West London, the Villans are quickly back in action as they take on Nottingham Forest in Europe – something that may tempt the Spaniard into changes.

Rejoining the Villans after a successful loan spell in the Championship, matchwinner Abraham has started just once in the Premier League.

However, with Ollie Watkins in fine form and central to Villa’s push on both fronts, Emery is unlikely to leave out his leading striker.

Watkins should keep his place, with Abraham instead pushing for more minutes from the bench after his one shot resulted in the winner, only making two passes outside of that, via Sofascore.

Alongside Watkins, the returning Jadon Sancho could start, with Emery potentially showing faith in the on-loan winger despite his recent mistake.

He came off the bench in the recent win, though he would play a huge role in the dramatic Sunderland comeback, losing the ball for Trai Hume to score, prompting his manager’s full support after an emotional reaction at the end.

With this in mind, the Spaniard may choose to back Sancho, who only completed 33 per cent of his passes and lost possession four times in only five touches.

Pau Torres could come back in to partner Ezri Konsa, while Lucas Digne will likely start after Ian Maatsen got the nod on Sunday, only winning one of his seven duels.

Aston Villa have their goals in sight but must not slow down

From here to the end of the term, Emery’s side mustn’t let their momentum slip.

With 15 points left to play for, the Villans need just six to guarantee a spot in the Champions League, but as Emery continues to outline, the job is not done just yet.

Alongside this, they are the firm favourites to go on and lift the Europa League next month.

But with this in mind, they must keep up the momentum across both competitions to avoid the risk of slipping away in both at the same time.

Emery’s side have a comfortable gap in the Premier League, but they can’t slow down just yet as the run-in approaches.