At A Glance
Aston Villa’s first team will play at Villa Park for the first time in 2021 as Newcastle visit B6 in the Premier League on Saturday night.
After watching from home as youth team players took on Liverpool in the FA Cup third round, Jack Grealish and co have the chance to end a three-game winless run in the top-flight.
After trips to Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City yielded one point, Villa will be looking to win for the first time since a 3-0 triumph against Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.
Newcastle come into the match without a win in their last nine games in all competitions, dating back to a 2-1 success against West Bromwich Albion in December.
Their current run of form has seen them slide to 15th in the table, seven points below Villa.
A 3-0 defeat against Arsenal last time out also meant their struggles in front of goal continued, with just one goal to show for their last five league games.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa have won just one of their last 12 Premier League games against Newcastle (D6 L5), though they are unbeaten in four against the Magpies (W1 D3), winning 2-0 in this exact fixture last season.
Newcastle have failed to score in their last three Premier League away games against Aston Villa (D2 L1) since winning 2-1 at Villa Park in September 2013.
Aston Villa have scored at least three goals in three of their seven Premier League home games this season, as many as they had in their previous 62 at Villa Park before this term.
Aston Villa are looking to keep three consecutive home clean sheets within the same Premier League campaign for the first time since December 2012 under Paul Lambert.
Newcastle are winless in seven Premier League games (D2 L5), losing their last three in a row. The Magpies haven’t lost four consecutive Premier League games since May 2018.
Newcastle have lost their last six away games in all competitions - they last lost more consecutively away from home between December 2015 and April 2016 (10).
Newcastle striker Andy Carroll scored his first ever senior career hat-trick against Aston Villa in his first appearance against the Villans back in August 2010, in a 6-0 victory for Newcastle. However, he’s failed to score in any of his subsequent six league games against them.
The Last Meeting
Ahmed Elmohamady climbed off the bench to rescue a point for Aston Villa back in June.
Fighting for their Premier League status, the Villans secured a vital draw thanks to the full-back’s header after 82 minutes.
Dwight Gayle had earlier fired Newcastle into the lead.
Team News
A second half booking against Manchester City was John McGinn’s fifth of the campaign, meaning he misses out against the Magpies.
Meanwhile, Dean Smith confirmed that Trezeguet will return to the matchday squad.
For Newcastle, Ryan Fraser is available to return after serving a one-game suspension while Allan Saint-Maximin could feature at Villa Park.
Federico Fernandez is Steve Bruce’s only other injury doubt for the game.
The Boss
“They had a great start to the season with a great result at West Ham. You could see that the players all look bright and that they’ve got goalscorers within the team. They’re just going through one of those periods at the minute. We went through one last season – we haven’t had a period like it this season. You’re just waiting for something to kickstart you, and I’m sure it will. We have to make sure that it’s not against us.”
Dean Smith
