English Premier League Week 11 Preview: Fulham Seek Second Straight Win Over Striker-less Aston Villa

Aston Villa, who are without their first-, second-, and third-choice strikers, travel to London to face Fulham, who are still missing Bobby Zamora but seem to have found an adequate replacement in Clint Dempsey. The American forward has five goals thus far in the season, which is over half of the amount that the entire Villa squad has tallied. Fulham are looking for their first back-to-back wins since last February, and are likely feeling confident against a weakened Villa squad.

Nathan Delfouneso came on for the last twenty minutes or so of Aston Villa's match against Chelsea, allowing the Villa to open up the game by playing more along the wings. However, no club wants to be forced to fall back on a 19-year-old striker who has never started in a Premier League match. Delfouneso brings greater speed and more creativity to the visiting side, and is probably a better choice than Carew, but it's still a nerve-wracking position to be in.

*Author sincerely hopes Ciaran Clark starts in place of Sidwell, but considering Sidwell is healthy, this is highly unlikely.

Key Matchup: Clint Dempsey meeting up with Steve Sidwell. There's a reason Sidwell spends most of his time on the Villa bench. He's relatively anonymous, rarely making a positive impact on a match. Unfortunately, this often means that Sidwell resorts to mis-timed tackles to stop an opposing attack. If Dempsey manages to run around the midfielder, he'll meet Richard Dunne, who is having a slightly less-than-spectacular season and could quite possibly help Dempsey by putting the ball in the net himself.

Battle Within The Battle: Aston Villa against the force field placed around the opposing team's net. The visitors have not scored in 344 league minutes and yes, supporters are counting. Ashley Young hit the post and Barry Bannan forced a diving save last week against Birmingham, but that's as close as the Villa have come since Albrighton scored against Tottenham. Look for any possible threats coming from Downing, Albrighton, and Young, but also expect those attempts to be wide, high or both.