Fulham boss Marco Silva recognises they face a major test against Aston Villa today.

Silva admits he's a fan of Villa manager Unai Emery.

“Impressive, impressive," was Silva's assessment of their campaign to date. “I'm not surprised, because I know [Emery] very well, I know his quality, I know what he's been doing so far in all his career.

“I remember him from Seville, when it was the first time I played against him. Of course, the impact has been huge in that football club.

Unai Emery welcomes Marco Silva to Villa Park

“All the results they have been achieving have been great for them. At home, it's been impressive the way they have been so dominant and the way they have been playing against many, many sides, and different types of sides – so dominant and achieving some very good results, it's been impressive.

“12 [home wins] in a row, this season five in a row as well. They haven't lost points until now – we want to be the first ones to do it.

“If you have five games at home and you score 20 goals, the numbers speak for themselves. It means they have been creating, they have been scoring, they're being really effective, ruthless in that type of situation.

“It's up to us to keep our good organisation, to be aggressive off the ball. On the ball we have to express ourselves and to deliver what we are going to plan to do.

“It's a challenge ahead of us, clearly. That's the feedback that we are sharing with the players, and the players are sharing with us that we want to be the first ones.

“They want the opposite, they want to keep the same form, and it's going to be a great challenge for us."