Bobby Zamora will lead the Fulham attack despite having a broken hand.
The England striker suffered the injury playing at NK Split in the Europa League two weeks ago, but played the return leg while wearing a protective cast and will do the same on Saturday.
John Arne Riise is likely to make his Premier League debut for the Cottagers but his brother Bjorn Helge is out with a minor hamstring problem and Simon Davies (knee) is also unavailable.
Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has virtually a full squad to pick from for the opening game of the season.
Striker Darren Bent and central defender James Collins have recovered from shoulder and back injuries respectively which prevented their involvement with England and Wales this week.
Charles N'Zogbia and Shay Given are poised for their league debuts following their summer arrivals with Rangers target Carlos Cuellar (knee) the only player unavailable for selection.
Fulham (from): Schwarzer, Somogyi, Kelly, JA Riise, Hangeland, Baird, Senderos, Hughes, Salcido, Halliche, Sidwell, Kasami, Murphy, Gecov, Duff, Etuhu, Dempsey, Johnson, Zamora, Dembele.
Aston Villa (from): Given, Young, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, N'Zogbia, Makoun, Petrov, Heskey, Bent, Agbonlahor, Marshall, Clark, Albrighton, Ireland, Bannan, Delph, Beye, Delfouneso, Guzan, Hogg, Gardner, Herd, Lichaj.
