In-form Aston Villa continue unbeaten streak with 3-1 away win at Fulham

Aston Villa extended their unbeaten streak in all competitions to nine games in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.

The hosts put their noses in front inside the first five minutes as Raul Jimenez recorded a goal contribution for the fifth Premier League game in a row, latching onto a long ball from goalkeeper Bernd Leno and finding the bottom corner.

Fulham’s early glory was short-lived however as Morgan Rogers levelled the scoreline at 1-1 just four minutes later, with the 22-year-old’s deflected effort finding the back of the net for Aston Villa.

Jimenez was in the thick of the action once again and the Mexican earned Marco Silva’s side a penalty on the 25-minute mark, but fellow South American Andreas Pereira was unable to convert from the spot.

Ollie Watkins gave the visitors their first lead of the afternoon on the stroke of the hour with a delightful glancing header from Youri Tielemans’ delivery – and that was game, set and match.

Cottagers centre-half Joachim Andersen was shown a straight red card for a foul on the last man five minutes later and with 20 minutes to play, Issa Diop’s own-goal secured the three points for Villa.

Watch: Fulham 1-3 Aston Villa Premier League Highlights

Villa are now unbeaten in nine games across all competitions – and Unai Emery’s men have tasted defeat just once since the season began in August, coming in a 2-0 loss at home to Arsenal.

The win marked the club’s best start to a Premier League campaign after eight games since the 1998/99 season, collecting 17 points from the 24 available.

According to the best football betting sites, the West Midlands outfit are priced at 7/2 to finish in the top four and make another Champions League appearance next year.

Fulham have now suffered two consecutive defeats following back-to-back wins against Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, looking to get back on target next time out against Everton in Gameweek 9.