The bright lights at Craven Cottage are on and despite Fulham being the home side this evening the spotlight is shining brightest on Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard.
It’s no secret that the Liverpool legend is under serious pressure at present, with another poor result likely to result in his departure from Villa Park.
Gerrard’s side have won just two of their ten Premier League games so far this season and are kept out of the bottom three only by goal difference at present.
It was widely reported that the Villa top brass were kicking the tires on a move for Mauricio Pochettino earlier this week – if that doesn’t bring clarity to the precariousness of Gerrard’s current citation, nothing will.
Tonight begins what may prove to be the pivotal stretch of Villa’s entire season. A decent points haul from their matches against Fulham, Brentford and Newcastle could signal the beginning of a rebound.
Any continuation of their current run will probably condemn them to a season scrapping for their Premier League lives.
Plenty on the line then as they travel to West London to face a Fulham side who arrested their own mini skid with a valuable 2-2 draw against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Marco Silva’s side have won just one of their last five in the league and consequently have dropped out of the top half of the table.
The manager will be hoping to have his side firing on all cylinders this evening as they begin a three-game run against sides all sitting beneath them in the league table before clashes with both Manchester sides. Three wins in their next three, and Fulham could be sitting very pretty indeed.
Silva is fortunate not to have a big injury list to contend with at present, with key men including talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic remaining available. The Serb has scored seven league goals in nine games so far this season.
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