Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off sees two in-form teams clash in the West Midlands, with Aston Villa entertaining Newcastle United at Villa Park.
Newcastle find themselves third in the Premier League table – three points inside the top four with a game in hand over fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
Three wins in seven days. 👍 pic.twitter.com/JbMQymJH56— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 9, 2023
Three wins in seven days. 👍 pic.twitter.com/JbMQymJH56
Meanwhile, Aston Villa have climbed to sixth – nine points behind Newcastle – although seventh-placed Brighton have two games in hand.
Aston Villa head into Saturday’s showdown on the back of a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, with Ollie Watkins scoring his ninth goal in 11 league outings.
Unai Emery’s men are now unbeaten in their previous seven matches, having claimed six wins and one draw since their last defeat.
Better still, Aston Villa have kept three consecutive clean sheets on home soil, preventing Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Forest from scoring.
Given that Villa have won 11 of their 17 Premier League games under Emery, only Arsenal and Manchester City have picked up more points since the Spaniard took charge.
It goes without saying that Aston Villa are in a good place right now, but let’s not forget that Newcastle United are also flying at the moment.
Indeed, the Magpies have won each of their last five Premier League matches to take control of their Champions League ambitions.
After claiming 2-1 victories over Wolves and Forest, Eddie Howe’s men defeated Manchester United 2-0 before thrashing West Ham 5-1.
Thanks to last weekend’s 2-1 win at Brentford, Newcastle have now lost just five of their previous 39 games in all competitions, highlighting their strength.
Head-to-head: Newcastle thrashed Aston Villa 4-0 in the reverse fixture back in October, with Callum Wilson bagging a brace on that occasion.
The Magpies have won each of their last two matches against Villa without conceding, while the Villains have won just three of their previous 19 meetings across all competitions.
Team news: Aston Villa’s injury list contains Matty Cash, Philippe Coutinho, Boubacar Kamara, Leon Bailey and Jed Steer.
Newcastle are still without long-term absentee Emil Krafth, while Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin are expected to miss Saturday’s clash.
Although Villa have upped their game in recent weeks, high-flying Newcastle look set to clinch a sixth successive victory this weekend.
Forebet predicts that Newcastle United will score over 1.5 goals on their way to dispatching Aston Villa while ending the hosts’ unbeaten run.