The international break may have come at just the wrong time for Aston Villa, but nevertheless, Dean Smith’s side seem to be finally gathering momentum as they seek to record a fifth straight win in the Championship when they welcome Blackburn Rovers to Villa Park this Saturday.
Recent wins against Derby County 4-0, bitter local rivals Birmingham City 1-0, Nottingham Forest 3-1 and Middlesbrough 3-0 make for an impressive portfolio of victories, and the signs are ominous for Blackburn as their hosts have now moved up into 6th place and now sit in the play-off pack.
Overall, Villa are unbeaten in their last five matches and with the return of their influential midfielder and skipper, Jack Grealish (4 goals, 5 assists), they now look like genuine play-off contenders. Fellow midfielders McGinn (5 goals, 8 assists) and Hourihane (6 goals, 10 assists) have also provided valuable contributions to the supply line for leading goalscorer, Abraham (21 goals).
Aston Villa will now take some stopping, particularly at Villa Park where they’ve lost just once out of their last seven matches on home turf.
Blackburn Rovers were handed a third defeat in four matches just before the international break when they suffered a 4-2 defeat away at Sheffield Wednesday which joined earlier losses to Rotherham United and Preston North End, and they face a very tough assignment in the west midlands this Saturday.
With just one win from their last nine matches overall in the Championship, which was a 3-0 home win over Lancashire rivals, Wigan Athletic, Rovers are trending in a downward trajectory which sees the visitors in 16th place on the Championship ladder.
Blackburn have collected 12 wins so far this season in their return to the second tier, but only four of them have been achieved away from home, and having now gone five matches without a win on their travels (losing four of these), it’s hard to see how they’ll cope with the creativity and firepower of Aston Villa on Saturday.
Defeats at Brentford, Reading, Rotherham United and Sheffield Wednesday, three of whom sit in the bottom half of the Championship, underline the problems that Rovers have had in recent weeks on their travels.
In addition, although Rovers have scored 2 goals in 5 of their last 6 away matches, their defence continues to ship goals on an even more regular basis and having conceded 42 goals already on the road, the visitors possess the worst defensive record away from home in the division.
Anything other than a home win for Aston Villa would be a surprise here.