Ryan Sessegnon expressed his desire to finish Fulham's season strongly after signing a contract extension that will keep him at the club until the end of next season.

Sessegnon, whose deal was due to expire at the end of the campaign, has extended his stay at Craven Cottage as the club look to keep their hopes of European football alive.

Marco Silva's side are 12th in the Premier League and five points adrift of sixth-placed Brighton with five games of their season remaining.

Sessegnon returned to Fulham in July 2024 after five injury-hit years at London rivals Tottenham and has made 52 appearances in all competitions across the last two campaigns.

Fulham are assigned a 1.7% chance of finishing in the top six by the Opta supercomputer, though Sessegnon believes a spot in Europe is achievable for the Cottagers.

"Of course, it's the club that I've always wanted to be at," Sessegnon told Fulham's official website on his contract extension.

"I'm very comfortable at this club, I'm happy with how it's going, last season and now this season as well, and I just want to finish the season strongly."

Fulham owner, Tony Khan, added: "I am thrilled to announce that Ryan's contract option has been triggered, and that he will extend his time here at Fulham for another year.

"After spending five years away, Ryan came home in 2024 and has made important contributions since his return. Ryan is a tremendous professional and a wonderful person."

And Fulham's European ambitions will be put to the test this Saturday as they welcome Aston Villa to Craven Cottage, with Unai Emery's side looking to cement a top-four finish.

The Villans left it late to snatch all three points against Sunderland in their last Premier League encounter, with Tammy Abraham's 93rd-minute winner sealing a 4-3 triumph. 

After their dramatic victory, they are eight points clear of sixth with five games of their campaign remaining, while also having a Europa League semi-final to look forward to.

Emery, however, said he needed a lie down after his team's win against Sunderland, even suggesting that his team "lost their minds" when the Black Cats levelled at 2-2.

"I will need tomorrow to take a day off and recover," Emery said. "I am so happy. 90 minutes we played how we wanted to perform.

"We conceded two goals in a crazy minute, we lost our minds. Until minute 75, we were playing a very good match.

"The last 20 minutes with extra time, things changed because they scored two goals.

"Sometimes we need to show our heart and our passion, and enthusiasm. All or nothing. It's very important to me those three points."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Fulham – Bernd Leno

Leno has started each of their last 145 Premier League matches, the longest ongoing run of any player for any side, and he has been key to Fulham’s success this term.

Only Brad Friedel (310), Tim Howard (210), Pepe Reina (183), David James (twice, 166 and 158), and Kasper Schmeichel (149) have had longer runs of starts in Premier League history.

Aston Villa – Ollie Watkins

Watkins is hitting form at the right time and has now scored 10+ goals in all six of his Premier League seasons (11 this term).

Only former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane (eight) has played in more campaigns in the competition's history while reaching double figures for goals in every one.

He also has six goals in nine Premier League appearances against Fulham and has only scored more against Brighton (nine) and Arsenal (seven).

MATCH PREDICTION: ASTON VILLA WIN

Villa have won their last six league games against Fulham, since a 3-0 loss in October 2022. Only against Coventry City have they won more consecutively in the competition (seven between 1995 and 1998).

However, Emery's side have won one of their last seven away Premier League games (D3 L3) and are winless in four (D2 L2). They last had a longer winless run on the road between November and December 2024 (five defeats).

They have also conceded at least three goals in three of their last five top-flight matches – as many as they had in their previous 38 games combined. Villa averaged under a goal per game conceded in those 38 games (0.95), compared to over two per game in the last five (2.2).

Fulham, meanwhile, have failed to score in four of their last five Premier League matches, as many as in their previous 25 combined. They have had 71 shots over these five games and scored just three times, a conversion of 4.2%.

But having lost just two of their first 13 Premier League home games against Villa (W5 D6), Fulham have now lost three of their last four against them at Craven Cottage (W1).

Seven of Fulham's last eight league wins have come against sides who started the day in the bottom half of the league. They have won just one of their last nine against teams starting in the top half (D2 L6).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Fulham – 31.6%

Draw – 25.3%

Aston Villa – 43.1%