Aston Villa continue their chase of a top ten finish as Steven Gerrard’s Villains host Watford at Villa Park.
Victory could see Villa climb to tenth if Southampton fail to defeat Everton elsewhere, whereas victory could see Watford climb to 18th if Norwich lose elsewhere.
Team News
Aston Villa have no fresh injury concerns to report after last weekend’s loss at Newcastle, as Ezri Konsa (suspension), Marvelous Nakamba (knee) and Bertrand Traore (hamstring) are ruled out.
Watford have no fresh injury concerns as Peter Etebo (quad) and Nicholas Nkoulou (hamstring) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Aston Villa have won just one of their last five meetings against Watford (W1, L4).
- Watford have won just one of their four previous Premier League visits to Villa Park (W1, L3).
- Both teams have scored one penalty apiece across nine previous Premier League meetings.
- 14 of Villa’s 31 league goals this season have been scored by the English trio of Jacob Ramsey (5), Ollie Watkins (5) and Danny Ings (4).
- No Watford player this season has produced more interceptions than Kiko Femenia, who has created 23 interceptions in 16 league appearances.
Prediction
Having lost at Newcastle off the back of a physical midweek draw against Leeds, Aston Villa should be pleased with how well they played because they were still threatening in attack, amidst scrappy defending and poor finishing so I hope they bounce back here.
Watford meanwhile delivered a strong defensive effort in their defeat against Brighton with excellent saves from Ben Foster, yet tiny defensive mistakes were punished whilst their attack were limited to counter-attacks so expect a tougher attacking effort here.
In fact, I am intrigued by this clash because Watford will certainly fancy their chances here if can get on the front foot quickly, whereas Villa will be a huge threat especially if Philippe Coutinho and Jacob Ramsey can link up when on the attack.
This game could therefore go in any direction depending on which team performs best on the day but Watford cannot afford even the tiniest of defensive mistakes.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 Watford
Result: Aston Villa 0-1 Watford