Both sides come back into league action having not won in their last match. Fulham lost out away to champions Manchester City in a narrow 3-2 thriller, and Aston Villa hosted the red-half of Manchester and that one ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
However, both teams have had more than promising starts to this Premier League campaign. Marco Silva's side are currently sat in 8th place on 11 points and Unai Emery's Villa are in 5th, on 14 points.
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Team News
Carlos Vinicius and Jorge Cuenca are on the verge of returning for The Cottagers, both players coming back and healing foot injuries.
Aside from the two returning, Fulham's Nigerian players Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey, might be doubts to start the match. The Super Eagles were left stranded in a Libyan airport for 12 hours over the weekend, when on their way to play against Libya, and are only just returning back to normality.
However, if the two Nigerian players are available to play after their terrible AFCON experience, Silva and his coaching staff will have a full strength squad to select from.
Unai Emery and his coaching staff may be without seven first-team players when the Claret and Blues take the trip to London.
Ezri Konsa and Amadou Onana were both forced to withdraw from their international duties due to injury issues. Jacob Ramsey, John McGinn, Jaden Philogene-Bidace, Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara all have injury issues of their own too, and all of those names will be touch and go, as to whether they can play a part in the battle.
Konsa's injury is merely just a fitness problem and the 26-year-old could return for this weekend's battle, but it is more likely we'd see him feature in the duel against Bournemouth instead.
The Belgian midfielder however, suffered a hamstring injury in the historic 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League. He missed the next match against Manchester United, and it would be a big ask for the summer signing to start at Craven Cottage, although he won't be far off making an impact off the substitutes bench.
Ramsey was also on the physio bench after the duel with the German giants, this knock being a groin issue. The midfielder has struggled to return to full fitness for a while now, and finding a good amount of playing time without getting injured, has become a real issue.
Philogene-Bidace was confirmed to have picked up a knock in England Under-21's European Championship qualifying encounter against Ukraine and may have to play through a knock, and start on Saturday.
Midfielder McGinn, has been forced out of the last three Villa matches due to a hamstring injury. After a scan, the regular starter's injury is worse than first assumed, and it is very unlikely that he will feature. A date of return is yet to be confirmed, however if all goes well the number 7 should be back playing at the end of the month.
Finally, Mings and Kamara are still recovering from Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries, but they have slowly returned to first-team training over the past few weeks and have played 45 minutes for Villa's under-21's during the international break. Both players may be forced to feature on the bench, regardless of their fitness status.
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Likely Lineups
Fulham (4-2-3-1)
Leno; Tete, Bassey, Andersen, Robinson; Pereira, Lukic; Adama, Smith- Rowe, Iwobi; Muniz.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1)
Martinez; Cash, Carlos, Pau, Digne; Tielemans, Barkley; Rogers, Philogene, Bailey; Watkins.
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Key Players
Fulham - Adama Traore
Adama Traore has made a great start to this season, causing real issues for back lines across the Premier League. The rapid winger arguably should have had a first-half hat-trick at the Etihad two weeks ago, but just couldn't find the back of the net. Pep Guardiola described the 28-year-old as "unstoppable" after the game.
Aston Villa- Youri Tielemans
Youri Tielemans has had a consistent and smooth start to the 2024/25 season and has been so far, the only central-midfield name to remain in the lineup without picking up an injury. The 27-year-old has the highest average match rating in the squad, at 7.65 out of 10 according to FotMob, and has been an integral part of the success that this Aston Villa team has undergone.
The Belgian has played 80+ minutes in every single game apart from the 2-1 EFL Cup win over Wycombe Wanderers, in which he was given a well deserved rest, not even travelling with the first-team squad.
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Match Details
Where is the match being played?
The match is being held at Craven Cottage, Fulham, London. Home to Fulham FC.
What time is kick off?
Fulham vs Aston Villa kicks off 3pm BST, on Saturday, 19 October.
How to watch?
The match is not being broadcasted to view in the United Kingdom, due to the Premier League's 3pm blackout rule. However, highlights will be available directly after the match, on various different platforms.
