(Credit: Imago)

Cameron Smith

Fri 24 April 2026 7:10, UK

Fulham will attempt to derail Aston Villa‘s charge for a Champions League place when the sides meet at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Unai Emery‘s men returned to winning ways in the Premier League last time out, Tammy Abraham sealing a thrilling 4-3 victory over Sunderland.

That result at Villa Park kept a return to Europe’s top table firmly within reach, with the B6 club requiring six points from their final five matches to secure a top-five finish.

Fulham, meanwhile, have ambitions of their own. Marco Silva’s side sit 12th in the table, just three points behind eighth-placed Chelsea, and remain in the hunt for European qualification.

With the season entering its decisive stage, the Cottagers will be eager to puncture the buoyant mood among the travelling support as the two sides clash in west London.

Aston Villa favourites to get job done at Craven Cottage

Throughout February and the early part of March, Emery’s side faltered in the league, allowing their sizeable lead in the race for Champions League football to slip.

However, after a 2-0 win over West Ham on the eve of the pause, they have returned from the international break in fine form, dismantling Bologna in the Europa League and taking four points from meetings with Nottingham Forest and Sunderland.

Villa travel to London as favourites, with Opta’s supercomputer giving them a 43.1 per cent chance of taking all three points.

A victory would boost their top-five hopes and extend Unai Emery’s superb record against Fulham.

Since arriving in 2022, Emery has won all six meetings with Saturday’s opponents by an aggregate score of 13-4. Only against Coventry have Villa won more consecutive games in the competition, with seven between 1995 and 1998.

Fulham, meanwhile, have failed to score in four of their last five Premier League matches, as many times as in their previous 25 combined.

Seven of their last eight Premier League wins have come against sides who started the day in the bottom half of the table, and they have won just one of their last nine against teams in the top half.

Fittingly, Villa’s last defeat to Fulham also came in 2022, when a 3-0 loss led to Steven Gerrard’s sacking – and, as fans know, the rest is history.

Craven Cottage defeat will live long in Aston Villa memory

It is bizarre to look back on a defeat as a day to remember, but the heavy loss at Craven Cottage in 2022 altered the course of Villa’s journey in the top flight.

Following promotion in 2019, the Villans had settled well into the division but had never quite broken through as a consistent top-half side.

That all changed towards the end of 2022, when Emery replaced Gerrard after a disastrous start to the campaign.

Since that day, the Second City giants have found themselves in European competition year after year, while a return to the Champions League is well within reach.

Even more of a testament to the job Emery has done is that the current squad is largely the same as the one coached by Gerrard.

Heading into the final weeks of the season, Villa are also firm favourites to lift the Europa League – a feat that could really transform the club.

Their record against Fulham since then is symbolic of the rise under Emery, and it can all be traced back to one dismal day in west London.