Unai Emery has declared his Aston Villa side's Premier League match against Fulham is his sole focus, despite a Champions League tie with Barcelona next week. The Villa manager stressed that any distraction from Saturday's game would be a "complete" mistake.
Emery said his message to the squad was clear. "If I am thinking, if we are thinking, after the match tomorrow against Fulham, we are making a mistake, and we are wrong, completely wrong," he told reporters. "So, tomorrow, Fulham, prioritising Premier League clearly, and this is the message." He framed the fixture as a test of consistency that demands daily work, adding that respecting the opposition was part of that commitment.
Villa are ninth in the table and three points ahead of 15th-placed Fulham, who have 9 points from their opening nine games. Fulham's record of two wins, three draws and four losses from those nine matches leaves them 12 points behind the league leaders, Manchester City. The hosts are on a three-match winning run, including a notable 2-1 victory over Manchester City last week. Fulham's recent form has been mixed, with two wins, one draw and two losses in their last five outings, a sequence that reads DLWWL. Their last result was a 1-1 draw with Villa on 31 October, following a 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace on 28 October where Eddie Nketiah scored the winner.
The two sides played out a 1-1 draw at Villa Park just days ago on 31 October. Nicolas Jackson put Villa ahead in the 39th minute before an own goal from Zion Suzuki levelled the score for Fulham in the second half. Marco Silva's side will be looking to build on that result as they prepare for their next home fixture against Newcastle on 7 November. Fulham have scored 9 goals and conceded 11 this season, giving them a goal difference of minus two.
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