Aston Villa face Newcastle this weekend, in what could be the last Premier League game at Villa Park for a long long time.
The reverse fixture between these two sides saw Jordan Ayew score a fantastic long range goal to salvage a point for Villa, after Newcastle had originally gone ahead at St James Park.
Villa suffered their 11th straight defeat last weekend, after two injury time goals from Troy Deeney gifted Watford a 3-2 victory at Vicarage Road. The result truly encapsulated Villa’s season, with Villa’s truly awful defending in injury time a continuing theme throughout the season.
Eric Black is likely to name the same side that faced Watford last Saturday, with Kevin Toner the only player to impress in Villa’s five man defence. Jordan Ayew and Rudy Gestede will once again start up front, having caused Watford’s defence numerous problems last weekend. Adama Traore is likely to continue to be excluded from the match-day squad, whilst Bacuna is likely to start despite not showing any footballing ability at all.
This weekend’s visitors, Newcastle United, have enjoyed an upturn in form in recent weeks as Rafa Benitez attempts to guide the Magpies to safety.
Last weekend’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace extended Newcastle’s unbeaten run to four games, with the Toon Army currently one point clear of the relegation zone despite having played one game more than Sunderland, who are in 18th.
Benitez is once again likely to name an unchanged side, with Townsend, Cisse and Wijnaldum likely to lead the attack for the visitors.
Prediction
Aston Villa 1-3 Newcastle United
