PA PhotosAaron Lennon did the damage against Villa

Almost two weeks, and after two rounds of international fixtures, Aston Villa pick up their Premier League campaign just a few miles from where they left off; in London.

- Lambert fears failure

After defeat at White Hart Lane, the challenge this weekend is Fulham at Craven Cottage. An easier opponent? Yes and no - Fulham are not in the same class as Tottenham but Martin Jol's team are good value for a current position in the top half of the league table. And they simply love playing the hosts. Villa should be so lucky.

From three home league games this season, Fulham have won twice. An opening day 5-0 demolition job on Norwich, and a 3-0 victory against West Brom, albeit a West Brom side down to ten men from the first half onwards. That third game saw defeat, after taking the lead, against champions Manchester City, who scored late to take all three points. Fulham have also already faced the other Manchester club in 2012-13 and acquitted themselves respectably enough, going down 3-2 at Old Trafford. There are plenty of goals in this team.

Fulham, and Jol, have had to be flexible this season. The team has experienced quite an overhaul from the last campaign, though it has felt gradual rather than a radical change en mass. Nevertheless, several key players have departed: for Clint Dempsey, Moussa Dembele, Danny Murphy, Bobby Zamora, Andrew Johnson last term, read Mladen Petric, Hugo Rodallega, Dimitar Berbatov, Kieran Richardson, and one of Greece's Euro 2004 heroes, the veteran midfielder Giorgos Karagounis, this.

There have also been more significant roles for Lassana Diarra, the former Real Madrid midfielder, and the gifted young Swede, Alex Kacaniklic. He's one of the exceptions in this current Fulham side, which is one of the oldest in the Premier League - Jol is clearly focused on the present, rather than the future. There is experience in abundance throughout the team, not least in the last line of defence, with goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer turning 40 a fortnight ago.

Villa drew here last season, an uninspiring and rather soulless 0-0 draw, which came on the opening day and, in hindsight, was maybe an omen for an uninspiring and soulless season. This time around, the promise is greater but, in real terms, Villa are in a poor state, with a mere five points and the pressure to quickly add to the solitary league win, which came against Swansea last month.

Manager Paul Lambert has received good news on the injury front this week. Not only is midfielder Karim El Ahmadi fit, defying concerns raised during Morocco's African Cup of Nations game last week (it turned out to be a case of cramp), but Stephen Ireland is also available. That's a welcome boost, for Villa have certainly missed his touch and vision in the middle of midfield.

One player who should come into this game bounding high on confidence is Christian Benteke, who scored twice in Belgium's two World Cup qualifiers. He's actually looked sharp and promising so far in a Villa shirt, but the stigma of replacing Darren Bent has dogged him and done him few favours, and it would be nice to see the 21-year-old start to shake that off - of course, there's no reason why he and Bent can't start together - and begin to establish himself in the Premier League. He certainly looks to have the talent.

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