At A Glance
Aston Villa welcome Sean Dyche and Burnley to Villa Park on Saturday afternoon in search of three more Premier League points.
Steven Gerrard has won four of his first six games as the club’s head coach, masterminding a 2-0 success away at Norwich City last time out.
The upturn in the team’s form has taken Villa back into the top ten ahead of a meeting with the 18th place Clarets.
Burnley have recorded a league-high eight draws from their 15 games thus far, registering their solitary win back in October.
Goals have been in short supply for Dyche’s men, who have drawn a blank in their last three games and netted 14 times in the top-flight this term.
However, a steely defence has made Burnley hard to beat and they’ve drawn four of their last five matches.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa have won just one of their last six Premier League games against Burnley (D3 L2), winning 2-1 at Turf Moor in January 2020.
Burnley have lost just one of their last seven away league games against Aston Villa (W3 D3), going down 5-2 in February 2010. They’re unbeaten in their last three league visits to Villa Park, only having a longer run without defeat there once (4 games between 1930 and 1947).
The eight Premier League meetings between these sides have alternated between a draw (4) and a win for either Aston Villa (2) or Burnley (2), with the Clarets winning the last meeting in January.
Aston Villa have only failed to score in one of their last 14 Premier League home games, and have found the net in each of their last nine at Villa Park since a 0-0 draw with Everton in May.
Burnley are without a win in their last nine Premier League away games (D4 L5), since winning 2-0 at Fulham in May. They last had a longer run without a win on the road between August 2016 and April 2017 (17 games).
None of Aston Villa’s last 14 Premier League games have ended level (W6 L8), with four of those victories coming in their six games under Steven Gerrard. It’s the Villans’ longest run without a draw in league football since a run of 16 between January and May 1998.
Burnley have failed to score in each of their last three Premier League games, attempting just 25 shots (8.3 per game) in those fixtures, with just three of those on target (1 per game). The Clarets last went four league matches without scoring in November 2020.
Burnley striker Chris Wood has scored four goals in his last five league starts against Aston Villa, including in three of his four Premier League games against the Villans.
Aston Villa striker Danny Ings has scored in each of his last three Premier League games against former side Burnley. Overall, Ings has scored five goals in his last seven Premier League appearances against sides he’s previously played for in the competition.
Since the start of last season, Ollie Watkins has been involved in 25 Premier League goals for Aston Villa (19 goals, 6 assists), almost twice as many as any other player currently at the club. Watkins scored and assisted in the Villans’ 2-0 win over Norwich in the week.
The Last Meeting
Villa led twice but ended up losing when they took on Burnley at Turf Moor back in January.
Ollie Watkins swept home the opener after 14 minutes as the visitors went onto dominate the first half before Ben Mee replied swiftly after the restart.
Jack Grealish put Villa back in front before two goals in three minutes from Dwight McNeil and Chris Wood turned the tie in Burnley’s favour.
Team News
Steven Gerrard declared Keinan Davis, Morgan Sanson Anwar El Ghazi, Leon Bailey, Bertrand Traore and Marvelous Nakamba out of the game.
Ashley Young is 50/50 to participate in the game.
The fitness of Maxwel Cornet, who missed their most recent game because of a thigh injury, is Burnley’s main injury concern.
Dale Stephens could make his comeback after returning from Covid-19, while Connor Roberts and Ashley Barnes remain unavailable.
The Boss
“They’re a very experienced team and they’ve been in the league for a long time with a very experienced coach. They play a certain way where they challenge you in many different ways. It’s a game that we need to remain fully focussed on and concentrated on. I went to watch Burnley against West Ham at the weekend and it’s very clear in terms of their style and what they want to do. They want to make the game extremely uncomfortable for you from start to finish. We have to make sure we’re ready for the challenge, the battle and the fight. Hopefully we can make the game look how we want it to look, in terms of the style of the game.”
Steven Gerrard
