Fulham tomorrow, something else next week, Spurs and match facts from the BBC
Here we are, five games to go and playing for third in the Premier League, still with a chance in Europe. It doesn't really get much better. It can and that's obvious, but think about where we were such a short time ago.
And like I write every week, it wont be easy tomorrow. All games in the Premier League are games that can be won or lost on any given day. We have had a good run against Fulham however, but that doesn't mean it's three points tomorrow.
But if we do win, we will go third and that will almost certainly mean Champions League football next season.
I write almost certainly, because it's not 100% but three points and four games to go and you'd have to be a very brave or stupid person to bet against us. And I don't think we'll find many that stupid.
And it's where we were and where we find ourselves that is so impressive. And it's all down to Unai Emery. You could easily position it that it's down to the owners and sure, broadly speaking it is but the hard work and the detail and the feeling around Aston Villa is down to Emery.
I've long written this and I stand by it, but the most important person at any football club is the manager. And that thought has had me thinking of Spurs this week. When we went down a few seasons ago, it was a season when we were clearly one of the three worst clubs in the League.
And this season Spurs have looked like one of the worst three on many occasions and you have to wonder if their new manager has had enough time to make them good enough to stay up. I'm not convinced, but they did nearly get all three points against Brighton last time out and you have to fancy they can get something against already relegated Wolves.
Ultimately, I think Spurs will stay up this season, mostly down to new manager bounce and that is coming from someone that isn't convinced Roberto De Zerbi is the answer. But I wouldn't want to be a Spurs fan right now and it's actually quite refreshing to have the ownership and manager we have right now.
Anyway, this is about Fulham tomorrow. Lets focus on three points. I'll be back in the morning.
Match facts from the BBC
Having lost just two of their first 13 Premier League home games against Aston Villa (W5 D6), Fulham have now lost three of their last four against them at Craven Cottage (W1).
Aston Villa have won their last six Premier League games against Fulham, since a 3-0 loss in October 2022. Only against Coventry have they won more consecutively in the competition (7 between 1995 and 1998).
Fulham have failed to score in four of their last five Premier League matches, as many as in their previous 25 combined. They’ve had 71 shots over these five games and scored just three times, a conversion of 4.2%.
Aston Villa have won one of their last seven away Premier League games (D3 L3) and are winless in four (D2 L2). They last had a longer winless run on the road in November/December 2024 (5 defeats).
Since the start of 2026, no team has scored fewer first half Premier League goals than Fulham (4, level with Wolves). Between August and December this season, only seven teams had more first half goals than the Cottagers (11).
Aston Villa have conceded at least three goals in three of their last five Premier League matches – as many as they had in their previous 38 games combined. They averaged under a goal per game conceded in those 38 games (0.95), compared to over two per game in the last five (2.2).
Seven of Fulham’s last eight Premier League wins have come against sides who started the day in the bottom half of the league. They’ve won just one of their last nine against teams starting in the top half (D2 L6).
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has won all eight of his Premier League games against Fulham – only Pep Guardiola has a better 100% record against an opponent in the competition (12/12 vs Fulham, 10/10 vs Watford).
Seven of Fulham’s last eight Premier League wins have come against sides who started the day in the bottom half of the league. They’ve won just one of their last nine against teams starting in the top half (D2 L6).
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has won all eight of his Premier League games against Fulham – only Pep Guardiola has a better 100% record against an opponent in the competition (12/12 vs Fulham, 10/10 vs Watford).
Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins has six goals in nine Premier League appearances against Fulham – he has only scored more against Brighton (9) and Arsenal (7).
Fulham’s Bernd Leno has started each of their last 145 Premier League matches, the longest ongoing run of any player for any side. Only five players have had longer runs of starts in Premier League history: Brad Friedel (310), Tim Howard (210), Pepe Reina (183), David James (twice, 166 and 158), and Kasper Schmeichel (149).
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