My Five Keys To Victory For Fulham Against Aston Villa - Match Preview

This Saturday, Fulham will be at home at Craven Cottage to play Aston Villa. The game takes place at 3PM UK Time and 11 AM EST. The game will be shown live on Fox Soccer Plus in the United States. However, there also is another option online. You can watch the game on Foxsoccer.tv live. This is a subscription based service that I would recommend.  

Fulham are coming off a victory last Saturday at Craven Cottage against Wigan. Aston Villa are coming off a 0-0 draw with Birmingham. Fulham are currently 10th in the table. Aston Villa are in 14th in the EPL. Both teams will be hungry for the victory.   

Gerard Houllier is the manager for Aston Villa. Players to watch tomorrow for Villa include Ashley Young and Nigel Reo-Coker. Villa were hit with a few injuries going into the match. Both Emile Heskey and John Carew are ruled out for this game.

This is a match of two pretty even sides. It should be a fun match to watch at Craven Cottage. Below are my "Five Keys To Victory For Fulham Against Aston Villa."

1. Danny Murphy needs to control the midfield for Fulham.  As we saw last week, when Murphy is on his game, Fulham are able to create a good amount of scoring chances. His play tomorrow I believe is crucial in setting up the strikers up front.   

2.  Fulham need to defend set pieces very well.  The defending of set pieces has been a thorn in the side of Fulham since last season. They cannot afford to give up a goal that results from a free kick or corner kick. Schwarzer is not at his best in these situations.

3. Clint Dempsey needs to be very active in creating scoring chances.  This was a key last week's game. Dempsey came through with scoring two goals. I wouldn't be surprised to see him score against Aston Villa.

4. Carlos Salcido needs to create scoring chances with his crosses into the box.  Salcido has proven to be a huge weapon in attacking situations. He was instrumental in Dempsey's first goal against Wigan. I think Fulham need similar type of crosses from him tomorrow against Villa.

5. Fulham need to contain Ashley Young.  Even with Emile Heskey out of this match, Aston Villa can still be dangerous and Ashley Young is the man that Fulham will have to watch out for. It will be the job of Hangeland and Hughes to contain Young. He has has only scored one goal this season, but he is a scoring threat.

My prediction for the match is a 1-0 victory for Fulham. This will be a tough game for the Cottagers, but since the game is at home I feel they can come away with all 3 points.