Aston Villa showed their quality in the first half against Chelsea before falling to a lackluster second-half performance. Next up, a trip to London as Villa take on Marco Silvaβs Fulham.
I spoke to Alan Drewett Junior of @HammyEnd to find out more about Fulhamβs season so far.
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After an impressive start to the season, Fulham currently sit in 11th. Three wins, three draws and four losses show a seemingly inconsistent Fulham side. What have you made of the league performances and results so far?
We had a pretty tough opening run which included games such as Arsenal away, Tottenham away, Liverpool at home, and Brighton at home. I am very happy with the start we have made but we need to start becoming more resilient at the back and a bit more clinical in front of the goal. We drew 2-2 with Bournemouth but should have won the game. Considering we have been considered as a huge favourite for relegation, we currently sit mid-table and have winnable games coming up with Leeds and Everton after the game with Villa on Thursday. In regard to performances, there have certainly been highlights which we can be pleased with. We just need to learn to be more solid at the back.
This season, Fulham opted to look closer to home for their transfer targets. Leno came in from Arsenal, Diop swapped West Ham for Fulham, Pereira arrived from Manchester United, James and Duffy came in on loan from Premier League clubs and Willian and Vinicius have experience in the top flight. How would you rate your transfer business?
Overall, I feel we had a very good window with Palhinha probably being the best of the lot in my opinion. We only paid Β£17.2m for him and he already seems like a bit of a steal. The Leno signing impressed me, especially as it was an initial fee of Β£3m rising to Β£8m due to add-ons. If I had one slight worry, it would be the lack of cover through the centre of midfield. We probably needed to buy another central midfielder in the summer but Iβm sure we will in January. The best thing we did in my opinion is bring in Premier League experience which is where we have probably gone wrong in our last two attempts.
A player that Villa fans may not be aware of whoβs had made an impressive start to life in England is Joao Palhinha. The Portuguese international has the second most amount of tackles in the league this season and has even found the net twice. How influential has Palhinha been?
Heβs been key for us and would probably get into 95% of premier league teams’ starting XI in my opinion. He breaks up play very well and is not afraid to take a booking for the team. I donβt think it will be too long before he starts getting more recognition from more pundits and opposition fans because he does seem to be at the heart of everything we do good. He has only missed one game this season and that was the 4-1 defeat to Newcastle when we were down to 10 men after 7 minutes. The only time we have lost with Palhinha in the starting lineup has been away to Spurs and away to Arsenal.
Finally whatβs your score prediction?
I worry for Villa at the moment with Gerrard not doing as good as he should. Whenever we play each other, itβs always a good game and I am expecting goals. I fancy a 3-1 win for us with Mitrovic scoring all of them. If Villa can play to their potential, you would have too much for us in my opinion but having watched you a few times this season, I feel itβs probably a good time to play against you.
OPPOSITION FOCUS | ALEKSANDAR MITROVIC
Within football there are many things that football fans get right; Norwich being a yo-yo club, Haaland being a robot, Birmingham being in Villaβs shadow. However, there has always been one that I donβt agree with; Mitrovic not being good enough for the Premier League.
In this piece Iβll be taking a look at Mitrovicβs start to the season and comparing it to the rest of the league.
First, let’s analyze Fulham’s formation and how it benefits Mitrovic. Fulham’s main formation this season has been 4-2-3-1, with Mitrovic leading the line as a sole striker and a group of creative players behind him. Fulham’s main issue is getting the ball to their creative players.
This is where Mitrovic comes in. Fulham frequently loft the ball up the field, and Mitrovic goes for the header, bringing it down into the path of the creative players. Mitrovic has been challenged in the air 110 times this season, which is 24 more than any other Premier League player.
However, that figure is meaningless unless it is supported by the number of contests he has won. Mitrovic also leads the way in that category. He has won the most of these challenges (52), more than anybody else in the league. Defenders make up the rest of the top 5.
Mitrovic is amazing, not only in the air. His ability to hold off players and release a shot on goal is among the best in the league. So far, the Serbian has had 18 shots on goal, which ranks third in the league. He is ranked higher than Foden, Jesus, and the Son. Ollie Watkins has accomplished half of that total.
Mitrovic is also more than capable of converting those shots on target into goals too. Of those 18 shots, 7 found the back of the net, leaving Aleksandar with a conversion rate of 39%. An impressive stat. Finally, in terms of xG, Mitrovic ranks fourth in the league, beaten only by Haaland, Kane, and Toney. Mitrovic has an xG of 5.55, which puts Ollie Watkins’ xG of 2.87 to shame.
Overall, itβs clear to see that Mitrovic can easily hang with the best the Premier League has to offer. He is critical to Fulhamβs style of play and can always make himself a nuisance.
MY PREDICTION
If Gerrard wants to keep his job, this game is the most crucial one heβs had as Villa manager. Villa fans are frustrated after watching countless toothless performances, and Gerrard has an opportunity to change that. Sadly, I canβt see it happening. I can see this being a scrappy 1-1 draw with McGinn rescuing a point.
AUTHOR | ELLIS BURNETT
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive ellisburnett – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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