There is one match left in the Premier League weekend and it comes along in an intriguing contest between two sides who are probably still expected to be in a relegation battle as the season drags on as Aston Villa host Newcastle United at Villa Park.
The game, which could be dubbed the Steve Bruce derby, although there are a number of fixtures each season which could claim that moniker, sees two sides in the bottom seven going at it, although both can make substantial advances with a win here.
Aston Villa
Fourth from bottom will be the objective for Aston Villa this season and to be fair to them that is exactly where they are heading into this match, so while nobody can be critical of their beginning to the season, when you spent the better part of £150m on your squad in the summer, there probably is an entitlement to be doing better, even though this is their first campaign back with the elite. A win here will begin to achieve that.
Villa head into this match off the back of three defeats in succession, but they have all been against sides in the top five in the table and in truth they were competitive for spells in all three. They will be hoping that a softening of the schedule can allow them to get back to winning ways, especially having had a couple of weeks to take stock and understand where they have gone wrong and work on putting it right.
Newcastle United
Given all the doom and gloom there was around Newcastle United ahead of the season, and still remains at St James’ Park, you have to give Steve Bruce a little bit of credit for building some form into this side. They have won three of their last five matches and although it hasn’t always been pretty, few can argue with their results. A win here will take them level on points with sixth placed Sheffield United amazingly.
If they are going to maximise what they can get this season then they are going to have to find the back of the net a little more. Only Watford have scored fewer than them but Newcastle have actually conceded less than fourth placed Chelsea, so they are relatively hard to score against, with the exception of that crazy afternoon at Leicester where what could go wrong did so. They should be quite buoyant going in here you would think.
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Team News
Aston Villa are expecting to have a number of star players back for this match with Jack Grealish being the biggest one of them. Matt Targett, Tom Heaton and Bjorn Engels are all expected to be able to return to the squad.
Fabian Schar has used the international break to return from a knee injury and along with Florian Lejeune both are expected to return for this match. Ciaran Clark was a doubt but the extra two days wait for this contest gives him a chance. Jamaal Lascelles and Matt Ritchie are both out.
Betting
Aston Villa feel a little short to me I have to say. I’m not saying I’m mad keen on Newcastle United but I always say that every team has their price and it might just be that theirs is here, especially on the handicap. Villa have only won two matches at home all season – against Everton and Brighton. The former are terrible on their travels and the latter were down to 10 men after 35 minutes and only conceded the winner deep into injury time.
Newcastle have already been to Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United and won this season and while neither were in the best of form at the time, they are fair wins. The Magpies like to play on the counter attack with the pace they have in forward areas and they should get the opportunity to do just that here. Villa haven’t kept a clean sheet in seven. If Newcastle score here I think it could be enough to get a result.
Tips
Back Newcastle United (+0.5AH) to beat Aston Villa for a 4/10 stake at 1.79 with BetVictor
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