On a day when Stoke City fans protest the price of going to football matches, Tim Sherwood will be hoping it is not the Aston Villa faithful venting their anger at the final whistle.
Potters fans are unhappy at being charged £41 for an adult ticket to Saturday’s basement battle in the Premier League. But it will be Villa boss Sherwood driven potty if his side cannot arrest a slide of three straight league defeats.
It will be no easy feat either with Villa winning just two of their last 11 Premier League meetings with Stoke (D5 L4). Indeed the under fire Sherwood will want to avoid a repeat of his first game in charge of the Villans, when a stoppage time Stoke winner in February condemned the claret and blues to a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park.
Mark Hughes’ side have made an uncharacteristically sluggish start to the season but last weekend picked up their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth at the Britannia Stadium. The visitors will now be hoping to make it back-to-back victories against a Villa side which has won just 17 of 72 league games on home turf in a dreadful run of form stretching back to December 2011.
Key Battle – Micah Richards v Mame Biram Diouf
The battle between Villa’s defence and Stoke’s attack is likely to decide this clash with the hosts conceding 12 goals in their opening seven games after keeping one clean sheet. Villa captain Micah Richards has been one of their better performers but they will need his leadership qualities to come to the fore ahead of a tough run of fixtures looming, which includes the likes of Chelsea, Everton and Manchester City.
Senegalese international Mame Biram Diouf will lead the Potters’ strike force and his confidence will be boosted having scored his side’s winner last weekend. He now has three goals so far this campaign and his aerial presence will worry the home side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE_vTD8ybQ0
Team News
Gabby Agbonlahor is likely to be fit but could be forced to take a place on the bench after Rudy Gestede’s encouraging brace at Anfield. Winger Adama Traore could be fit enough to make his first home league start for the Birmingham outfit.
Alan Hutton is expected to keep Leandro Bacuna out of the team at right-back but Joleon Lescott could be replaced by Ciaran Clark after a torrid start to his Villa career. Villa have conceded seven goals in the three league games when he has been at the heart of the defence.
Aston Villa Expected XI (4-2-3-1): Guzan (GK); Amavi, Clark, Richards, Hutton; Gana, Westwood; Grealish, Sinclair, Gil; Gestede.
Former Inter Milan winger Xherdan Shaqiri will face a late fitness test and will provide a big boost to the away side should he start the game. Much of the Stoke side is expected to remain the same and defender Philipp Wollscheid will keep Marc Wilson out of the team after impressing of late.
Stoke City Expected XI (4-2-3-1): Butland (GK); Pieters, Wollscheid, Cameron, Johnson; Adam, Whelan; Arnautovic, Bojan, Walters; Diouf.
Head-to-Head
Stoke are Villa’s archetypal bogey team and have averaged 1.43 points per game in the Premier League at Villa Park. The only ground they fare better in is the Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion.
Sherwood’s team have won just once in the last seven Villa Park encounters with the Potters, losing the last two and drawing four.
Previous Meeting
Scott Sinclair put the Villans 1-0 up in Sherwood’s first game in charge but it all went wrong in the second-half. Diouf levelled the scores before a 92nd-minute Victor Moses penalty saw the visitors take all three points back.
Prediction
Both sides are struggling this season but Stoke felt the winning feeling last time out and that could be a key factor in what is sure to be a nervous and brittle Villa Park atmosphere. Expect a slow start as both sides look to establish themselves in the game and it could be decided by a single goal.
Aston Villa 1 Stoke City 2
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