Aston Villa attack without Marcus Rashford and Ian Maatsen in starting XI | OneFootball

This is a must-win for Aston Villa. Wolverhampton Wanderers looked promising to take points off Manchester City during the first half of Saturday's Premier League match. Pep Guardiola's side managed to win, mounting pressure on AVFC to earn the victory on Saturday.

Although Unai Emery has expressed optimism that Marcus Rashford may be able to return, most doubt that he would be able to return for a fixture before the Manchester United fixture. Still, as evidenced by the Spaniard's selections, there is plenty of an attacking punch for Villa as they face off against Fulham.

Ollie Watkins starts up top as the striker attempts to surpass the club record previously set by Gabriel Agbonlahor. John McGinn, Marco Asensio, and Morgan Rogers are playing behind him. Boubacar Kamara and Youri Tielemans are playing in their midfield roles in front of the backline. Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, and Ian Maatsen will protect Emiliano Martínez as the Argentinian looks to have a strong performance for AVFC.

Amadou Onana, Jacob Ramsey, Ross Barkley, and Donyell Malen are options off the bench for Emery to potentially turn to. Leon Bailey, who had what many viewed as the most inspiring performance in the FA Cup semi-final match against Crystal Palace, finds himself in the squad. The Jamaican has found himself excluded from a number of EPL fixtures altogether since the international break.

Remaining bench and aim of A

Tyrone Mings, Andrés García, and Lucas Digne are part of the nine substitutes, as they can fill in defensively for Emery in any of their respective positions. Robin Olsen rounds out the lineup for the Spaniard as Martínez's backup.

The remaining four games are, in a sense, a final. Emery has stated that the overall goal and objective of the club is to play in Champions League. While anything can happen in this league, dropping points from this point on would make it something of an impossibility to finish high enough in the standings. As his, Villa will likely need help from others in order to make CL as things stand now.