Aleksandar Mitrovic pushing for Fulham start at Villa after red-hot scoring streak for Serbia

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Aleksandar Mitrovic has pushed his claim to start Fulham’s Premier League match at Aston Villa after a red-hot scoring streak while on international duty.

The striker netted in all three of Serbia’s World Cup qualifiers, bagging five goals.

Mitrovic is the first man to score 40 goals for his country, with 30 of those coming in his last 32 internationals.

But the 26-year-old has badly struggled for form at club level. His last goals for the west London side were a brace in the 4-3 loss at Leeds in September.

Mitrovic has only started 10 of their 29 Premier League matches, missing three fixtures in February after contracting Covid-19.

Fulham have failed to score in three of their last five games and head to Villa on Sunday. Their opponents cruised to a 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture in September as Scott Parker’s men were wretched defensively.

But Fulham are unbeaten on the road in their last eight matches, drawing six of those.

Lyon sporting director Juninho believes Joachim Andersen wants to stay in the Premier League.

The Danish centre-back has been a revelation for the Whites.

Juninho said: “I think he will want to extend his adventure in the Premier League.

“He has played well at Fulham, and if he wants to come back, we will welcome him with open arms.”