Fulham vs Aston Villa
The Exploira Stadium in Florida is the latest setting for a high-profile pre-season friendly – all part of the Premier League summer series.
A match which has delivered some ding-dong battles over the years could now produce friendly highlights for those lucky enough to witness proceedings stateside.
Talking Points
It’s been a frantic week for the Cottagers.
At one point, there was a suggestion they could lose their highly-rated manager Marco Silva to the lure of the Saudi Pro League.
Reports suggested the Portuguese boss had been offered a lucrative two-year deal to coach Al-Ahli.
It is little wonder his stock has risen over the past two years.
In charge of Fulham since July 2021, winning promotion in his first season before finishing a comfortable 10th in the Premier League, Silva has decided to stay, unlike his star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic who scored 14 goals in 24 Premier League appearance last season – kickstarted by a fine opening day double against Liverpool.
While his loss will be a blow, they have agreed a deal to buy Raúl Jiménez from Wolves for about £5.5 million – a fee which will prove worthwhile if he can rediscover his form of a few years ago before he sustained a serious head injury in November 2020.
Since then, he has netted just six times in 49 Premier League games, including 38 starts, along with three goals in the League Cup last term.
Fulham are also on course to sign Mohammed Salisu from Southampton as well as another centre-back, Calvin Bassey, from Ajax, while Callum Hudson-Odoi remains a target from neighbours Chelsea.
While Fulham’s transfer business may continue for a few weeks more, Villa seem to have struck early with some shrewd acquisitions as the Unai Emery era continues apace.
Ever since leaving Villarreal last autumn for the Midlands, Villa have been a club on an upward trajectory, steering them to a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League, securing qualification for next season’s Europa Conference League in the process.
His pedigree is clear. This is the manager who led the ‘Yellow Submarine’ to Europa League glory over Manchester United in 2021 and then made the semi-final of the 2022 Champions League thanks to a string of spectacular results, including victories over Juventus and Bayern Munich.
His previous success at Sevilla was also eye-catching and his recruitment has certainly impressed this SBOTOP observer this summer.
The Villains have also just announced the signing of France winger Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen.
Diaby joined Leverkusen from Paris Saint-Germain in 2019 and went on to register 49 goals and 48 assists from 173 games for the German Bundesliga club.
He has 10 caps for France after making his international debut in 2021 and is Villa’s third summer signing after Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans from relegated Leicester City and Spain centre-back Pau Torres from Villarreal.
Villa warmed up for this one with a friendly encounter against another Premier League foe.
Against Newcastle, Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia put Villa 2-0 ahead inside 11 minutes before the Geordies hit back.
The in-form Buendia added a second after the break before Newcastle levelled again.
If this game is an attacking as that one, as two teams ease their way to full match fitness in a relaxed environment, it could prove to be highly entertaining.
History
Historically, this is a match-up which is as close as you can get.
Both teams have 26 wins apiece with a further 22 draws.
Their very first clash came in the FA Cup quarter-finals in March 1905, a tie Villa won 5-0 at Villa Park.
The scorers that day were Joe Bache, Harry Hampton (two), Albert Hall and Joe Pearson
The most recent clash came in April at the same ground when a Tyrone Mings goal separated the sides in the top flight.
Fulham had ridden roughshod over Villa in the other league fixture last October.
That night, Harrison Reed, Mitrovic, and an own goal sealed a 3-0 success for the Cottagers and prompted Villa bosses to fire Steven Gerrard and hire Emery.
Arguably, their most high-profile meeting was the 2018 Championship Play-Off final at Wembley when Tom Cairney scored the only goal to earn promotion for Fulham.
Betting Tip
At the time of writing, the SBOTOP Friendly betting odds are not available but keep an eye out before kick-off.
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