Aston Villa v Fulham Betting Preview – Championship 26th May 5.00pm
The culmination of the 2018 Championship play-offs will happen on Saturday as Aston Villa take on Fulham at Wembley. Fulham finished third in the regular Championship season with Aston Villa five points behind them in fourth place. So these were the best two teams outside of the automatic promotion spots and it should make for a fitting and exciting play-off final.
The prize in this game, which is dubbed the richest game in English football, is immense. Who will be playing alongside the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City next season in the top flight?
Aston Villa News and Form
Aston Villa squeezed their way past Middlesbrough in their play-off semi-final, with Aston Villa winning 1-0 on aggregate. Back on home soil in the second leg, Aston Villa did not give up a single shot on target to their opponents. They have a very strong defence, but they have been struggling to get their own goals recently. Villa have scored exactly one goal in five of their last seven games, failing to net in one of the other two. So they will be relying on their defensive strengths at Wembley on the weekend as down the final stretch of the season they were doing things by a very fine margin. If they get a win on the board on the weekend then it is highly unlikely to be by more than a one goal margin.
Aston Villa can boast good experience in their squad which should help them handle this occasion, and at the back, Villa have conceded just the one goal in their last three games. They did after all, blank Middlesbrough in both legs of their play-off tie which was impressive as Boro were in form. Under 2.5 goals at bet365 is at 4/7 odds* (Betting Odds taken at 3:45 a.m. on May 21st, 2018). Their current form in their last four games is just W1 D2 L1 so they aren’t quite on fire, but their defence will keep them in this. The only concern really is that if their defence does get breached, will they have enough firepower going forward to outscore the Cottagers?
Fulham News and Form
Fulham were the second highest scorers in this season’s Championship. During the second half of the season, they produced that phenomenal 23 match unbeaten streak of form, and during that, they took a good 2-0 win over Aston Villa. In the bet365 correct score market for the Championship play-off final, the shortest priced option is the 1-1 draw at 90 min, with a Fulham 1-0 option at 11/2 odds. Fulham had to show a bit of character in their semi-final against Derby in the play-offs, as they lost the first leg away from home 1-0 but managed to turn things around back at Craven Cottage by winning two-nil in the second leg. Fulham have a tremendous amount of attacking and scoring power and that is why they will have appeal for punters in this Wembley showdown.
However, the Championship play-off Finals are usually tight affairs and so we may not get to see the Fulham attack flourish in its greatest potential. 11 of the last 16 championship play-off finals have all ended under 2.5 goals, which is a good trend to look for. Each of the last five finals have stayed under the goal-line. Ten of the last 16 finals have had only the one goal or fewer in them. You do also have to consider that Fulham will be facing Aston Villa’s defence, which was the second best in the Championship during the regular season. Another trend will be looking towards the half-time draw, because Aston Villa were level at the break in eight of their last 11 games against top six sides.
So which will come out on top? Aston Villa’s tough defence, or Fulham’s mighty attack?
Aston Villa v Fulham Head to Head
There was a home win for each of them in this season’s Championship meetings. The home team scored exactly 2 goals in each of those games. Over the last four meetings which have all been in the Championship, things are even with two wins each. Looking back just a little bit further and for them have lost just two of their last eight fixtures against the Villains with a W5 D1 L2 in the head-to-head. Fulham have scored at least two goals in four of their last six games against Aston Villa.
Aston Villa v Fulham Betting Odds*
Fulham 13/10, Draw 21/10, Aston Villa 23/10* (Betting Odds taken at 3:45 a.m. on May 21st, 2018)
Aston Villa v Fulham Predictions
Basically what this Championship play-off final may well boil down to is the stern experienced defence of Aston Villa, trying to keep the powerful attack of Fulham at bay. Aston Villa can quite match the power for the creativity that Fulham have in their ranks. Therefore we are tipping Fulham to get through by a one goal margin.
