Aston Villa will attempt to end a 40-year streak when they play host to Fulham in the Premier League on Tuesday night.
The West Midlands outfit have transformed into one of the teams of the season under Unai Emery, who replaced Steven Gerrard at the beginning of November.
Helped by a nine-game undefeated streak which has featured seven victories, Villa find themselves as contenders for European qualification having previously been candidates for relegation.
Villa saw a five-match winning run come to an end on Saturday as they only secured a 1-1 draw at Brentford, Douglas Luiz equalising for the visitors in the closing minutes.
However, with Tottenham Hotspur being thrashed 6-1 by Newcastle United, Villa now sit just two points adrift of the fifth-placed North Londoners in the table.
Emery is already looking to extend a Premier League record for the amount of goals scored by a Premier League team upon the arrival of a new manager.
© Reuters
That record currently stands at 19 matches, yet the Spaniard will be more concerned with ending a run which has lasted as many as four decades.
Villa are currently on a run of four successive league victories at their home ground, with five having not been posted since 1998.
Each of the wins in question have come with clean sheets to boot, and Villa have not posted five consecutive league shutouts in wins since April 1983.
On the flip side, though, Villa are looking to end a dismal run of home league matches played in midweek, failing to win any of their last nine attempts.
In sharp contrast, Fulham have prevailed in all four of their contests played on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday this season, a record only matched by Manchester City.
Darren Plant
