5 Tips for Thursday’s Action - 20/10/22

Fulham and Aston Villa go head to head at Craven Cottage on Thursday night in a meeting between 11th and 16th in the Premier League, with Steven Gerrard reportedly fighting for his job.

Two of the Cottagers' three wins this season have came at home, having defeated tricky opponents in the shapes of Brentford and Brighton, whilst Serbian forward Aleksandar Mitrovic has been one of their standout players. The ex-Newcastle man has scored seven goals in nine matches this campaign.

With Villa having the second-worst attack in the division, scoring seven in ten matches, we can see Fulham outscoring and beating them.

Fellow Premier League strugglers Leicester City face a tricky test in the shape of Leeds United at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes are 19th and have the worst defence in the division, having leaked 24 goals already, and have won just one match this season - this victory came at home to bottom-of-the-table Nottingham Forest.

Leeds’ good start to the season has somewhat slid off, however, they were unlucky not to pick up any points in their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at the weekend, having missed a penalty and had a goal, unfortunately, ruled out by VAR.

Jesse Marsch’s side have scored 11 and conceded 13, whilst despite Leicester’s poor defensive showing, they have bagged 15 goals. Due to Leeds having a stronger base, we can see them winning this game with both teams scoring in it.

Barcelona and Villarreal face off on Thursday night, with Xavi’s men looking to bounce back from their El Clasico defeat to Real Madrid at the weekend.

The Nou Camp club face Unai Emery’s Villarreal who are seventh in La Liga, seven points worse off than them after nine matches.

Robert Lewandowski’s presence in the penalty area will be crucial to Barca’s chances of winning the game itself, as the Pole has scored 14 goals and created three assists in 13 matches since joining the La Liga outfit.

In the Coppa Italia, Serie A outfit Bologna hosts Serie B side Cagliari, with these two clubs sitting 17th and eighth in their respective divisions.

Experienced Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic is a player to look out for here, as the ex-West Ham United and Stoke City man has scored six goals and created one assist in nine Serie A matches.

Arsenal and PSV go up against one another in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday in a re-arranged game between the two front-runners in Group A.

The Gunners enter this match having bagged six and conceded one in three matches, whilst Ruud van Nistelrooy’s PSV side have been in incredible goalscoring form of late, scoring 11 times in the group already, as well as 35 in ten Dutch Eredivisie matches.

This could be a highly entertaining match, as Arsenal are top of the Premier League scoring 24 in ten games.