Fulham vs Aston Villa Prediction: Watkins to weave more magic in west London

Fulham and Aston Villa will both be looking to return to winning ways on Saturday (15:00) when they face each other at Craven Cottage.

Below you can find my Fulham vs Aston Villa prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this Premier League match in west London.

Team News

Carlos Vinicius and Jorge Cuenca remain injured for the hosts who otherwise appear to have a fully-fit squad for Saturday's game.

Club-record signing Emile Smith Rowe dropped down to the bench for the 3-2 defeat at Manchester City, but the former Arsenal playmaker could return to the starting XI at Craven Cottage in place of either Sander Berge or Alex Iwobi.

Adama Traore will be coming up against his former club and the Spaniard will be desperate to right the wrongs of last time out as he fluffed a couple of golden opportunities to score past City.

Raul Jimenez has scored three goals in seven Premier League appearances this season and should come into the weekend full of confidence after firing a long-range free-kick past USA goalkeeper Matt Turner in a 2-0 win for Mexico in the early hours of Wednesday.

Football Odds

John McGinn hasn't featured for Aston Villa since sustaining an injury in their 3-1 victory over Wolves on September 21 but the Scotland midfielder is back in training ahead of the trip to west London.

Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey both missed the goalless draw with Manchester United just before the international break but the midfielders could be back for Saturday's trip to Craven Cottage while Ezri Konsa, who was forced off after just 12 minutes against the Red Devils, is "feeling good" according to head coach Unai Emery.

Jaden Philogene played the duration of the stalemate with Erik ten Hag's side but should be back for Saturday despite sustaining an injury in England U21's 2-1 win over Ukraine last Friday.

Meanwhile, Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings could return to the squad after lengthy spells out.

Fulham vs Aston Villa Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Fulham vs Aston Villa page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Fulham are unbeaten at Craven Cottage in 2024/25, beating Leicester City (2-1) and Newcastle United (3-1) either side of a 1-1 draw with West Ham, and the Cottagers are 6/4 to win a third home game on Saturday. Those odds give Marco Silva's side an implied win probability of 40%, while Aston Villa are slight underdogs at 15/8 (34.8%), with the draw available at 5/2.

Five of Fulham's last six Premier League home matches have seen both teams score and you can back a sixth in seven at 4/7, while over 2.5 goals is priced at 4/6.

Jimenez and Watkins (both 13/8) lead the anytime goalscorer market followed by their respective deputies, Rodrigo Muniz (7/4) and Jhon Duran (2/1).

Both Teams to Score in First Half - Yes @ 11/4

Villa were involved in a dismal goalless draw with Manchester United at Villa Park last time out but five of their first six Premier League games this season saw both teams score, while there was also a strike from either side in their 2-1 win at Wycombe Wanderers in the Carabao Cup.

A week before their stalemate with the Red Devils, Villa had drawn 2-2 at Ipswich Town, taking a 2-1 lead into the interval before Liam Delap equalised with his second goal of the game in the 72nd minute. That was the third time this season that both teams had scored in the first half of a Villa game with Emery's side drawing 1-1 at half-time of their 2-1 win at West Ham United and losing 2-1 after 45 minutes of their 3-2 victory over Everton at Villa Park.

Like their visitors on Saturday, 71% (5/7) of Fulham's league games this term have ended with both teams scoring, including their most recent outing, a creditable 3-2 defeat at reigning champions Manchester City where they went in front through Andreas Pereira on 26 minutes before Mateo Kovacic levelled for the hosts six minutes later.

There are further similarities between Fulham and Villa as the Cottagers have also seen both teams score in the first half three times in the Premier League this season. Silva's side were drawing 1-1 with Leicester City at Craven Cottage in August before Iwobi found a winner in the second half, and they also went a goal down to an early Delap opener at Portman Road prior to Traore getting on the scoresheet in the 32nd minute.

The price for both teams to find the net on Saturday isn't particularly appealing, so instead I'm going to back Fulham and Villa to score in the first half of their meeting in west London, which would make it the fourth time it has happened for both sides in 2024/25.

Villa have conceded five first-half goals and have shown themselves to be slow starters, but they've also proven to be a resilient bunch and even going a goal down on Saturday afternoon is unlikely to disturb them.

So, if the Cottagers do find themselves in front early on like they did at the Etihad, it wouldn't surprise me to see Villa stage an instant comeback and get themselves on level terms before the half-time whistle.

Anytime Goalscorer - Ollie Watkins (AVL) @ 13/8

It was a disappointing international break for Watkins who, along with Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke, was snubbed for the England centre-forward position in the 2-1 defeat to Greece at Wembley, with Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham preferred instead in a false nine role.

Watkins was also a substitute in the 3-1 victory over Finland in Helsinki three days later, although that proved a more successful outing as he provided the assist for Declan Rice's late strike.

The 28-year-old returns to club duties this weekend and after blanking in the 1-0 win over Bayern Munich and the 0-0 with Man United, he will be desperate to get back on the scoresheet in west London.

This is a fixture that has proven profitable for the Exeter City Academy graduate, who bagged a brace in his side's 2-1 success at Craven Cottage in February.

Watkins also found the net in Villa's 3-1 victory at Villa Park last November and a win by the same scoreline in April 2021, so he must list Fulham as one of his favourite opponents.

With Duran breathing down his neck, the pressure is on Watkins to keep performing, and he already has four league goals to his name, the most recent of which was away from home at Portman Road.

Offers

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