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Match Preview for Aston Villa v Newcastle
Newcastle head to Villa Park on the back of six straight wins and hoping to solidify their grip on third place in the Premier League against one of their rivals in the race for Champions League football.
The Magpies, having sustained the momentum from their EFL Cup final win over Liverpool, are now in prime position to return to European football’s premier competition having surged into third with a 5-0 demolition of Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
They head into the weekend five points clear of Chelsea in sixth, with the top five set to receive places in next season’s Champions League.
Newcastle will again be without manager Eddie Howe as he continues to recover from pneumonia, his assistants Jason Tindall and Graeme Jones having overseen a 4-1 win over Manchester United and the rout of Palace in his absence.
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A trip to the Midlands to face Villa figures to be a much tougher test.
Villa were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, but only after a stirring fightback effort that came up agonisingly short.
Unai Emery’s men recovered from 2-0 down to win 3-2 on the night after a remarkable second half, but PSG held on to prevail 5-4 on aggregate.
Their performance in a pulsating tie was a reminder of the threat Villa pose and, with the hosts level with Chelsea and only a point behind Manchester City in the race for the top five, it is they who likely be the more desperate of the two sides for a positive result from what figures to be a highly entertaining clash.
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Aston Villa v Newcastle team news
Villa have a clean bill of health, Leon Bailey having recovered from the injury that had kept him on the sideline since the resumption of their season following the international break. He was an unused substitute against PSG.
Newcastle have named the same starting XI in each of their last six outings, and that is likely to be the case again on Saturday.
The Magpies avoided any further injuries to their squad against Palace. Though centre-back Sven Botman is edging closer to a return from a knee injury, his comeback is more likely to come against Ipswich Town on April 26.
Lewis Hall and Jamaal Lascelles are Newcastle’s long-term absentees.
Aston Villa v Newcastle expected line-ups
Aston Villa: Martinez; Konsa, Torres, Disasi, Maatsen; Kamara, Tielemans; Rogers, McGinn, Rashford; Watkins
Newcastle: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Barnes
The stats
- Aston Villa have gone 18 competitive home games without defeat, winning 12 and drawing six.
- Newcastle have collected the third-most points away from home in the Premier League this season, their tally of 27 trailing only Arsenal and Liverpool.
- Newcastle have won their last three league games with Aston Villa and scored at least three goals in each of them.
How to watch Aston Villa v Newcastle
The match will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League and Ultra. It will be available to stream on the Sky Sports app, Sky Go as well as through Now TV.
Prediction
It is difficult to see anyone slowing down Newcastle right now, but Villa showed remarkable resilience against PSG and, though that effort will have taken a lot out of Emery’s side, they’ll be hopeful of at least taking something from an extremely difficult fixture.
