At A Glance
Aston Villa will look to make it three wins on the spin when they travel to newly-promoted Burnley on Sunday.
Unai Emery’s squad have bounced back from defeat against Newcastle United in their opening Premier League game in fine style, beating Everton 4-0 and Hibernian 5-0.
The latter victory came in the Europa Conference League on Wednesday night, with Ollie Watkins opening his tally for the season with an impressive hat-trick.
Burnley faced champions Manchester City on their return to the top flight, succumbing 3-0 at Turf Moor.
The Clarets saw last weekend’s game against Luton Town postponed, giving them plenty of time to prepare for this game.
And they’ve bolstered their ranks ahead of the fixture by signing Aaron Ramsey from Villa in a move that was confirmed earlier this week.
Standout Stats
There has been at least one draw between Burnley and Aston Villa in each of the last six league campaigns in which they have faced each other.
Villa have won two of their last three away league games at Burnley, which is as many victories as they managed in their 29 previous matches at Turf Moor.
There have only been two home wins in 10 Premier League matches between these sides.
Burnley have scored in each of their last 38 league matches at home against Villa, dating back to a 0-0 draw in January 1920.
Villa's eight consecutive Premier League wins at Villa Park is a club record. However, we are without a victory in our last five league away fixtures.
Villa are only the second team in top-flight history to lose their opening game by four or more goals, then win their second game by the same margin or higher.
Last season Villa won all three of their home games against promoted teams but failed to win any of the reverse fixtures, drawing one and losing two.
Burnley have already lost as many league matches at Turf Moor this season as they did in their entire Championship-winning campaign last season.
The average age of Burnley’s starting XI against Manchester City in their opening game of the season was 23 years and 206 days, which was their youngest-ever in a Premier League match.
The Last Meeting
Burnley were scrapping for their Premier League lives when they pitched up at Villa Park for the penultimate game of the 2021/22 season.
And they kept Villa at bay, thanks in large part to goalkeeper Nick Pope, before taking the lead via Ashley Barnes’ penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Emi Buendía restored parity shortly after the restart but Villa couldn’t find a winner despite racking up 22 shots.
Team News
Emi Martínez will be assessed ahead of the encounter having been substituted at half-time in Wednesday’s 5-0 Europa Conference League play-off victory at Hibernian.
The goalkeeper is suffering with a minor calf complaint and faces a late fitness test before our clash against the Clarets at Turf Moor.
Summer signing Nicolò Zaniolo is in contention to make his Villa debut this weekend having been unable to face Hibs due to UEFA regulations.
The Boss
“They are a very good, organised team. They are - building with the ball, creating and so on - very good players; they are going to demand from us defensively. When they are playing without the ball, they are going man-to-man. We have to be very demanding in how we can be consistent over 90 minutes, playing and trying to avoid the organisation - defensively and offensively. I really appreciate and I really think and share with our players the challenge on Sunday is going to be very difficult. We are going to respect them a lot because they deserve it, and we are going to start the match in the first minute, 20th minute, 30th minute, 45, 60, 90 – we are going to face them like they are, and we have to give all our best.”
Unai Emery
