Fulhamvs.Villarreal

Marco Silva's side will now have their eyes firmly on their season opener with Liverpool on August 6, while Villarreal are building towards their first La Liga match of the campaign away to Real Valladolid.

Match preview

Fulham will play their final friendly of the summer on Sunday afternoon, with Villarreal making the trip to Craven Cottage, less than one week before the team's 2022-23 Premier League opener against Liverpool.

Silva's side have played three pre-season fixtures, starting their preparations for the new season with a 2-0 victory over Nice on July 16 before suffering a 5-1 loss to Benfica one day later.

Fulham will enter this match off the back of a positive result, though, having run out 3-1 winners over Estoril on July 24, with Aleksandar Mitrovic (two) and new signing Joao Palhinha on the scoresheet in Portugal.

The Cottagers won last season's Championship title to secure a return to the Premier League, and the team are bidding to make it back-to-back seasons in England's top flight for the first time since 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Silva's team have been relatively active during the summer transfer window, bringing in Palhinha, Andreas Pereira and Kevin Mbabu on permanent deals, while Manor Solomon has arrived on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk, but the club have lost highly-rated teenager Fabio Carvalho to Liverpool.

Villarreal, meanwhile, have played four times during pre-season, opening their preparations for the new campaign with a 1-1 draw against Sporting Lisbon on July 14.

The Yellow Submarine have since beaten PSV Eindhoven, Borussia Dortmund and Reims, while they will be in action ahead of this match, taking on Southampton on Saturday, before the clash at Craven Cottage.

Villarreal will then round off their preparations for the return of competitive action with a friendly against Inter Milan on August 6, with their La Liga campaign starting one week later away to Real Valladolid.

Unai Emery's side, who finished seventh in La Liga last season, have signed three players during the summer window, bringing in Pepe Reina and Jose Luis Morales before confirming the arrival of Kiko Femenia from Watford.

There have also been a number of departures for last season's Champions League semi-finalists ahead of the new campaign, with Moi Gomez, Sergio Asenjo, Serge Aurier and Mario Gaspar among those moving on.

Fulham friendlies form:

Fulham form (all competitions):

Villarreal friendlies form:

Villarreal form (all competitions):

Team News

Fulham could have a debut to Mbabu following his recent arrival from Wolfsburg, while fellow new signings Palhinha, Pereira and Solomon are also in line to feature.

Palhinha and Pereira started in central midfield alongside Harrison Reed against Estoril last time out and that could again be the case in this match, with Harry Wilson and Tim Ream also set to be among the starters.

Mitrovic scored twice in the 3-1 success over Estoril, and the 27-year-old, who found the back of the net on 43 occasions in the Championship last season, will be looking to continue his good form ahead of the new campaign.

As for Villarreal, it is difficult to predict their starting XI considering that they will be in action against Southampton on Saturday.

Emery could decide to use two different squads or use the same group of players but limit their minutes.

The match is likely to come too soon for new signing Femenia, but Reina and Morales could both be involved for the Yellow Submarine alongside the likes of Gerard Moreno, Samuel Chukwueze and Dani Parejo.

However, there will be no Manu Trigueros for the visitors, with the Spaniard suffering a fractured toe during the recent friendly encounter with Dortmund.

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Gazzaniga; Mbabu, Ream, Adarabioyo, Bryan; Pereira, Palhinha, Reed; H Wilson, Mitrovic, Reid

Villarreal possible starting lineup:

Rulli; Foyth, Torres, Albiol, Estupinan; Coquelin, Parejo, Capoue, Chukwueze; Dia, G Moreno

We say: Fulham 2-2 Villarreal

Villarreal are in action 24 hours before this game against Southampton, so it will be interesting to see how Emery approaches the contest. Fulham boss Silva is expected to select a strong XI ahead of their first match of the new season, but we can see an entertaining match finishing all square.

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