Premiership Aston Villa hopes to continue undefeated in Premiership against Fulham

A fortnight ago, Aston Villa rocked the sports betting market when they recorded a huge win over Arsenal as the +600 underdogs. And last Saturday, when they played host to European champions, Manchester United, they took a point with the scoreless draw at Villa Park.

Come Saturday, Villa will put their unbeaten streak on the line when they host middle of the table Fulham FC. Earlier in the season, Villa struggled against lesser clubs – losses to Middlesbrough and Newcastle did not help their cause and provided critics, and there were many of them, vital confirmation that under the circumstances, Villa did not possess the quality to finish the season amongst the “Big Four.”

But Villa once again showed they were a serious team and on the back of the two-match undefeated streak, they tallied four points, overhauled Arsenal FC from fourth place in the table and moved into the title race and a spot in Champions League. Surely, naysayer’s can be silent now – at least give them their due then under the present, optimistic circumstances.

Soccer Betting Line:

Aston Villa -1 +115 -160 2½ O -105 U -115 Draw +260

Fulham FC +1 -135 +475 2½ O -105 U -115 Draw +260

Match Time: 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time Saturday November 29, 2008

Venue: Villa Park

Soccer Betting Analysis:

Aston Villa -160: Aston Villa has ambitious goals for this term – finishing amongst the top four this season one of them. Currently in fourth place – an essential requisite for their ambitions – they are poised to take another step up the ladder. Villa at 24 points and one point shy of third place Man U is within striking distance.

Recent form makes Villa a good bet and they are hot favourites to win the home match; the bookies have finally taken stock of their recent revival, tipping them as sure favourites at -160. In their last six, they collected ten points but they are eighth in terms of form in the league – level with Stoke City on points.

Fulham FC +475: While the bookies have given Villa their due, they short-changed Fulham FC something big on the money line. In fact, in terms of improvement, Fulham has made a slightly better leap than Villa. Fulham collected eleven points in their last six matches; they are fourth in the league in terms of performance in the last six – behind Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, all of whom collected 13 points.

Fulham scored back-to-back victories against Newcastle and Tottenham, before holding Liverpool to a draw at Anfield last Saturday; surely an impressive result.

Soccer Betting Verdict: In the season proper, Fulham occupies ninth place in the Premiership table and Aston Villa fourth. On the merit of their rankings and with Villa hosting Fulham on Saturday, Villa is correctly the favourite in the match. However, given Fulham’s performance over the last six, which was slightly better than Villa’s, they have much to be optimistic about; surely, this should have made the soccer betting line a closer affair. As it didn’t – but why?—and Fulham is offered at such a tempting price tag of +475, which practically begs a wager, I cannot urge sports bettors to avoid a small risk on the underdogs. Can the bookies see something I can’t? I do wonder. Nevertheless, Villa is overall the better team; they will want to win this match and firmly establish their place in the “Big Four”, and thus, with the incentive largely in their camp, the betting trend should fall in line with this contention.

Soccer Free Picks: Villa -160 | Under 2 goals -115

Nila Amerova is a freelance sports writer and regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room