Second place Aston Villa travel to West London to play fifth place Fulham on Saturday. The two clubs have been the hottest Championship sides since Christmas.
Aston Villa currently lead the Championship's form table with 18 points from their last six matches. Meanwhile, Fulham sit in second place in the form table with 16 points from their last 18 possible. The match will be a showdown at Craven Cottage with direct implications on the race for promotion. It is a six-point affair as Aston Villa can solidify their current position while Fulham would improve their promotion playoff chances.
Saturday's fixture starts a torturous run of matches for Fulham. The Cottagers will face Aston Villa, Bristol City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Derby, Sheffield United and Preston in consecutive matches. The six-match, three-week run will see Fulham play teams currently in the top eight and fighting tooth and nail for Premier League promotion. It is an unenviable fixture list; and it could be the difference between Fulham making the promotion playoffs and not.
Only league leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers have scored more goals this term than Fulham. Fulham have tallied 52 goals, and the side plays on the front foot in each match. Led by the "new Gareth Bale", Ryan Sessegnon leads Fulham in goals with 11 this term. Sessegnon was substituted off the pitch in Fulham's first match of the season. However, since then, he has played all but four minutes in the Championship this term. His importance to the side cannot be overemphasized; and unbelievably, he is just 17-years old.
As a team, Fulham score 1.7 goals per game. The team keeps a Championship leading 57.3% possession per match as Fulham starves opponents of the ball. In addition, Fulham averages the second most shots per game with 14.1.
Aston Villa won't be scared of Fulham on Saturday. The Villains have been unstoppable since Boxing Day. The team has won seven straight Championship matches. Steve Bruce's team has kept five clean sheets during their current run. Aston Villa are now favourites to gain promotion according to betting experts, but Saturday's game against Fulham will be a test of both team's credentials.
Fulham added firepower in the January transfer window. Aleksandar Mitrovic joined from Newcastle. He is expected to score goals at the Championship level, and Mitrovic's addition should help pick up the slack of any player currently struggling over the long league season.
Aston Villa's form makes it difficult to look past a win for the West Midlands club. But dissecting their last seven games shows Aston Villa had played teams either in the bottom half of the table or sides focused on cup fixtures. Fulham have the strength to win this match, but the Cottagers did lose 2-1 to Aston Villa earlier this term. With the way both clubs are currently playing, a draw at Craven Cottage looks like a strong possibility.