Aston Villa vs Newcastle tips and predictions: Villans hungry for emphatic revenge against Toon
- George Dempsey
- 29 January 2024
The Villa Park faithful will be baying for blood as Aston Villa look to avenge their 5-1 hammering at the hands of Newcastle earlier in the Premier League season.
It took Sandro Tonali just six minutes to open the scoring when these teams met at St James’ Park. Moussa Diaby equalised five minutes later, but Newcastle ran out 5-1 winners.
That was the biggest Premier League defeat Aston Villa have suffered since January 2020 when they lost 6-1 to Man City.
That was a team of a different era and when you’re a top-level player used to winning, you don’t forget results like the reverse fixture.
A similar story unfolded last season as the Toon triumphed 4-0 at St James’ Park but the Villans didn’t have long to wait for revenge, beating them 3-0 at Villa Park.
We concluded that Villa should be marginally bigger favourites than the close to even money on offer at some bookmakers, and that was before we factored in other things.
Not only are Villa seeking revenge, backed by the home faithful who also won’t have forgotten, but Eddie Howe's injury list is growing again.
Saturday’s win against Fulham was a massive relief but they were largely second-best in that game and continue to struggle on the road.
They’ve won one of 10 Premier League away games this term, lost seven and shipped 2.2 goals per game.
That’s not the sort of production you want from your defence for a trip to Villa Park. The hosts are averaging close to three goals per game.
We also want to give some weight to the away team’s lacklustre performances in this fixture. The hosts are unbeaten in 16 competitive meetings, outscoring the visitors 29-5 since 2013.
We're pretty confident that Unai Emery's side win this game and there's a reasonable chance they'll win it by a comfortable margin.
Key stats
- The home team in this fixture have outscored the visitors 29-5 since 2013 and 12-1 since the start of last season
- Aston Villa are averaging close to three goals per game at home
- Newcastle United are conceding 2.2 goals per game away from home
- The home team are unbeaten in 16 meetings in this fixture
Team news
Emi Buendia, Tyrone Mings, Jhon Duran and Bertrand Traore are ruled out while Pau Torres, Luca Digne and Jacob Ramsey are doubts.
Despite absences, a back four of Alex Moreno, Clement Lenglet, Ezri Konsa and Matty Cash have kept three consecutive clean sheets.
Sandro Tonali is suspended and Joelinton, Nick Pope, Matt Targett, Joe Willock, Elliot Anderson and Harvey Barnes are injured.
Kieran Trippier will be fit to play a part but Callum Wilson, Jamaal Lascelles, Miguel Almiron and Jacob Murphy all face late fitness tests.
Suggested bets
