Fulham’s European aspirations almost died at Southampton last Saturday – earning a late reprieve after a stirring second half fightback engineered by Emile Smith Rowe and completed by Ryan Sessegnon’s superb, stopping stoppage-time header. The path to the UEFA Conference League has been made more treacherous by Crystal Palace beating Aston Villa at Wembley in the first FA Cup semi-final, which means that should the Eagles overcome an off-colour Manchester City in the final later this month, then even eighth won’t be enough for Marco Silva’s side to play in continental competition anyway.
Silva’s side certainly haven’t been reliable enough to land a European spot outright, but the fact that the Portuguese head coach has been able to steer a squad shorn of Joao Palhinha and Aleksandar Mitrovic to the point where they remain in the qualification shake-up with four games to go is remarkable. The manager’s juggling of his resources has been magnificent – and nobody exemplifies that more than Sessegnon, the returning Roehampton hero, who has gone from squad filler to player of the month nominee averaging a goal or assist every 69 minutes in the top tier so soon after that torturous time at Tottenham.
The boy wonder filled in fabulously for Antonee Robinson at St. Mary’s last week – capping off his man-of-match display with the sort of storybook moment he specialises in – but will have to play somewhere else at Villa Park with the previously ever-present American international available for selection again. Silva prefers to play with inverted wingers, which could see Sessegnon restored to the right wing role where he lashed in the leveller against Liverpool, but surely playing him in front of the league’s most productive left back would pose problems for a leakier-than-usual Villa defence?
The achilles injury that threatens the rest of Rodrigo Muniz’s season means that Raul Jimenez will need to lead the line for the remainder of the run-in. The Mexican’s goalscoring touch has eluded him of late, but the former Wolves forward has scored in both of his last two Fulham appearances against Aston Villa and looked far more effective once Smith Rowe turned the tide of a game that looked like it was slipping away from the Whites on the south coast. The intriguing additional ingredient was the pace and power of Adama Traore down the right flank – with the Spaniard superb after Silva sent him on for the second half at St. Mary’s. It would be harsh on the returning Harry Wilson, but Traore has to have compiled a strong case for starting on one of his old stomping grounds as well.
The composition of Fulham’s midfield remains as much of a work in progress as it looked in August. Silva’s preferred central combination of Sander Berge and Sasa Lukic remains streets ahead of the competition, but the Norwegian looked lost without the Serbian schemer for company against the Saints. That balance should be restored today, but who to play in the number ten role should have been the subject of serious debate at Motspur Park this week. Fulham are a far better side with Alex Iwobi in the team and, whilst Andreas Pereira has blown hot and cold for much of what looks like being his final Cottage campaign, Smith Rowe showed last week the artistry and drive that made him Silva’s number one target over the summer. He probably also also deserves an opportunity to orchestrate Fulham’s attacking moves on what will be a tricky afternoon.
The lazy pundit will claim that the wheels have fallen off Villa’s bus at just the wrong time, but that is to underrate how incredibly Unai Emery has transformed the mentality, approach and quality of this side since taking over after Steven Gerrard’s side were so wretched by the banks of the Thames in October 2022. That Villa – first-time entrants into the modern Champions’ League, lest we forget – qualified for quarter finals and pushed a Paris Saint-Germain side who easily contained Arsenal in the week all the way should be a cause of celebration rather than disappointment. Fulham fans know far better than most how difficult an opponent Oliver Glasner has made Crystal Palace, but Villa will be desperate to finish the season strongly – especially with Champions’ League qualification still a possibility.
Emery’s squad is so deep that they can easily cope without the services of Marcus Rashford, even if the England international – disdainfully dispensed with by Reuben Almorin – has been brilliant in B6. It should give the former Brentford forward Ollie Watkins a platform to display his goalscoring prowess that has been denied in recent weeks – and the fact that a man who has scored 86 times and added 41 assists in 219 Aston Villa appearances has had to play second fiddle shows just how much competition for places now exists in the Villa ranks. Silva rightly eulogised about the capabilities of Morgan Rogers, Leon Bailey – Villa’s best performer in the semi-final last weekend – Donyell Malen and Marcos Asensio during his pre-match press conference and they will all be eager to test any defensive frailty from the outset in a must-win match for the home side.
Villa are blessed with strength from front to back. It was something of a surprise to me that Tyrone Mings, such an integral part of revivals for his club and country over recent years, didn’t start the Cup semi-final and the Villains remain unbeaten in the last eight league games he has started. He could come back into a rotated side today but the battle for a starting spot is just as fierce in a defence so superbly marshalled by the unique capabilities of Emi Martinez, another goalkeeper undervalued by Arsenal.
Silva correctly called this ‘a big, big game’ for both clubs. His Fulham side have unfortunately stumbled on the big occasions this season. They might start as underdogs, but the Whites can’t afford another failure this afternoon.
MY FULHAM XI (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, A. Robinson, Andersen, Bassey; Lukic, Berge; Iwobi, R. Sessegnon, Smith Rowe; Jimenez. Subs: Benda, Castagne, Diop, Reed, Cairney, Wilson, Willian, Traore, Pereira, Vinicius.
