Aston Villa v Stoke City Premier League preview

Aston Villa followed their victory at Old Trafford with another 3 points midweek as they beat Sunderland 2-0. They come into the weekend in joint 3rd with Arsenal, looking to extend their run of victories by beating Stoke.

Aston Villa

3 straight wins without conceding a goal has propelled Aston Villa into the Champions League places with their competition dropping lots of points recently. It’s still tight and a poor run of form would see them drop straight out. Their exit from the Europa League has benefited them and it’ll be interesting to see how seriously Martin O’Neill takes the Carling Cup semi final in January if they’re still in this position after sacrificing the UEFA Cup last season when they were in a top 4 position. 3 points if all they’ll be thinking about this weekend and their players will be hungry to do so after letting a 2-0 lead slip very late in this fixture last season. Stoke have been on a poor run themselves recently and had Thomas Sorensen to thank for saving a late penalty to earn a point against Wigan last weekend. They’re at their best defensively so far this season, limiting Manchester United to a few long range efforts last week, while they remain solid at defending set pieces which is one of Stoke’s main attacking threats. Their attacking players are in good form of late; James Milner scored a cracker midweek, Gabriel Agbonlahor scored the winner at Old Trafford and Emile Heskey has even got himself on the scoresheet a couple of times recently.

Form
DDWWW

Injuries/Suspensions
Wilfred Bouma
Curtis Davies

Stoke City

A surprise victory at White Hart Lane is the only time Stoke have taken 3 points in the road this season. They do draw more times than they lose away from home, although they may have been wishing for more than a draw in some of the teams they have played this season. Because they’re well-suited to their tactics and are hard to beat at home, I don’t see Stoke being a serious contender for relegation, although with a trip to Manchester City to follow they could be sucked into it before the new year, even if only temporarily. They were outplayed by Arsenal 2 weeks ago and I see an in-form Aston Villa doing similar. Set pieces are Stoke’s best opportunity in this match but Aston Villa have defended them very well recently.

Form
LWDLD

Injuries/Suspensions
Robert Huth (suspended)
Amdy Faye

Stoke City caused Aston Villa problems last season, but Villa are in a better position now than they were in those 2 previous fixtures. They’re in top form while Stoke haven’t been performing well of late. A solid defence that defend set pieces well will limit Stoke’s chances, while they have a number of attacking players in good form recently to cause Stoke’s defence problems. Comfortable win for Aston Villa this weekend.

Best bet: Aston Villa to win 4/9