At a Glance
Stoke City are the visitors to Villa Park on Thursday night as Aston Villa look to win a place in the Carabao Cup Quarter Finals.
Goals from Anwar El Ghazi, Bertrand Traoré and Ollie Watkins saw off Bristol City in Round Three, following up a victory against Burton Albion in Round Two.
Including last season’s run to the final at Wembley, Villa have lost only one of their last nine games in this competition.
The Potters have struggled for goals during the early stages of this season, but they’ve made steady progress in the Championship and Carabao Cup.
Michael O’Neill’s team overcame Blackpool on penalties in Round One before showing their giant-killing credentials with a 1-0 win against Wolves at Molineux.
A 1-0 success against Gillingham earned them a place in this Round Four tie.
Head-to-Head
Aston Villa and Stoke have played each other 117 times, dating back to their first meeting in 1888.
The Villans have won 51, drawn 32 and lost 34 of their encounters against the Staffordshire side.
The Last Meeting
Aston Villa’s last game against Stoke City was back in February 2019, with both sides battling it out in the Championship.
The visiting Villans fell behind quickly at the bet365 Stadium, with Sam Vokes putting Stoke ahead after five minutes.
Substitute Albert Adomah saved the day as his second half equaliser earned a valuable point for Dean Smith’s team.
Team News
Dean Smith made 11 changes for Villa’s last Carabao Cup outing, and he has an almost fully fit squad to choose from.
The Villa boss is only missing the services of Bjorn Engels, Wesley and Tom Heaton. New loan signing Ross Barkley is ineligible for Villa due to his appearance for parent club Chelsea in the Third Round.
Former Villa captain James Chester joined Stoke in the summer and has played every minute of their three league games, however he’s been rested for the previous two rounds of this competition.
Welsh international Joe Allen and Thibaud Verlinden are the only injury absentees for The Potters.
The Boss
“I’m really delighted with the way we started the season. We changed our whole team for the Bristol City game and put in a hell of a performance in that one. The lads followed that up against Fulham and now we will get ready for Stoke City.”
Dean Smith
Get your official souvenir matchday programme for the visit of Stoke City
The special collectors’ edition is a tribute to the 1960/61 season, when Villa were the inaugural winners of the League Cup
