A look at the opposition: How have Aston Villa fared thus far this season?

Fulham’s latest Premier League clash sees them taking on Aston Villa on Saturday night.

The Cottagers come into this match having eased themselves out of the relegation zone and off the back of two straight wins.

Those came against both Hull and Coventry, with Fulham seemingly beginning to click under Alvaro Arbeloa, having earned eight points from their last five matches.

A defeat to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup somewhat set them back though, with the Cottagers unable to make the most of significant possession and chances to finally end their miserable record against Palace.

They take on an Aston Villa side who have been a bit here, there and everywhere so far this season, as shown by a 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup.

But in the Premier League, how have Villa fared?

August

It was an almightily tricky start to the season for Villa, taking on Brighton on the opening weekend and suffering a 4-0 battering against the Seagulls.

Joao Gomes endured a debut to forget, with a bad error leading to a goal and a red card.

A clash with champions Arsenal only made things worse for Villa, succumbing 1-0 to the Gunners.

September

September began with a 0-0 draw against Hull, as the Villans earned their first point of the season.

But any hopes of an immediate return to form were crushed the following week when losing 2-1 at the hands of Nottingham Forest, with Liam Delap scoring the winning goal for Forest, in their only win to date this season.

Things clicked the week after though, when Villa went to Tottenham and picked up a 3-2 win over Spurs, with new signings Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson both on the scoresheet.

October

On the face of it, October was a desperately challenging month for Villa, who faced Brentford, Newcastle and Manchester City.

But it proved to be a month in which Villa showed their credentials to once again finish among the European places.

It began with a 2-2 draw at home to Brentford, with Jackson again on the scoresheet.

It was Manzambi again who struck the following week against Newcastle as the Swiss midfielder made the side who wanted him in the summer pay as Villa earned their second win of the season.

Against City, it was more of the same for Jackson, who scored from both of his shots to hand Villa a credible 2-1 win over the previously unbeaten Cityzens.

It was a win that showed Villa to be in top form and Fulham have a job on their hands to get something out of a game with a side who are also unbeaten from their three Champions League matches - here’s to a more of a treat rather than a nasty trick for the Cottagers.