Aston Villa look to make a successful return to Premier League matters on Saturday, with a 3pm visit of Ipswich Town.
The Tractor Boys visit Villa Park - where Unai Emery's side have lost only once in the Premier League this season - just less than a week on from the Villans' 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, which successfully secured a spot in the fifth round of this season's Emirates FA Cup.
Villa are in a rich vein of form on home soil, with seven wins and four draws from their last 11 outings at Villa Park in all competitions, including four wins from their last five.
Ipswich, meanwhile, have found life in their first season back in the top flight difficult, and are three points from safety, sitting 19th in the Premier League table.
Kieran McKenna's men will hope to draw confidence from wins over Bristol Rovers and Coventry City in rounds three and four of the FA Cup respectively, having lost their last four league outings.
Stats
Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins has been directly involved in 10 goals in his last six Premier League starts against newly promoted opposition (4 goals, 6 assists), scoring and assisting against Ipswich Town in the reverse fixture in September.
Only Dominic Solanke (399), Nicolas Jackson (317) and Erling Haaland (312) have recorded more pressures in the final third than Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap (305) in the Premier League this season while the Englishman has also committed the most fouls (49) of any forward so far this term.
Each of Marcus Rashford’s four Premier League goals this season have come against sides starting the day 15th or lower, including away to Ipswich for Manchester United in November. The last players to score against the same opponent for different clubs in a Premier League season are Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal and Man Utd v Huddersfield) and Olivier Giroud (Arsenal and Chelsea v Southampton) in 2017/18.
Excluding own goals, 95% of Ipswich Town’s 21 Premier League goals this season have been scored by British or Irish players, the highest proportion by a team in a single campaign since Wolves in 2011/12 (98% - 39/40).
Only Southampton (1) have gained fewer points from losing positions in the Premier League this season than Ipswich Town (3); last season when they won promotion from the Championship, the Tractor Boys won more points from behind than any other team in England’s top four tiers (32).
Since the start of last season, only Everton and Brentford have won a larger share of their total Premier League points at home than Aston Villa (60% - 63/105) among current sides in the division. The Villans are unbeaten in their last 11 league games at Villa Park (W6 D5) since losing 2-0 against Arsenal in their opening home game of the season.
Ipswich Town have lost each of their last four Premier League games – their longest losing run of the season. They last lost more consecutive league matches between October and December 2011 under Paul Jewell (7 in the Championship).
Aston Villa have lost just one of their last 20 Premier League games against opposition in the relegation zone (W13 D6), though that sole defeat did come last time out on MD24 against Wolves (0-2).
Ipswich have lost 10 of their last 12 away league games against Aston Villa, with both exceptions being 1-0 victories (March 1994 in the Premier League, February 2017 in the Championship).
Aston Villa have lost just one of their last 14 top-flight meetings with Ipswich (W10 D3), a 1-0 home defeat in March 1994.
The Last Meeting
The last meeting between these two sides ended a run of five-consecutive victories for Villa, as they left Portman Road with a point having been held to a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture in September.
Liam Delap gave the hosts the lead eight minutes in, squeezing a shot through Emi Martínez's grasp, though Villa quickly responded and were 2-1 ahead shortly after the half-hour, thanks to a neat finish from Morgan Rogers - his first goal of the season - and a clever header from Ollie Watkins.
But the Tractor Boys rallied again in the second period, and managed to snatch a point 18 minutes from time as Delap turned Diego Carlos inside the area and fired into the bottom corner to split the spoils.
Team News
Unai Emery revealed in his pre-match press conference that Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings would be back available for his side, after spells on the sidelines with injuries. Elsewhere, Axel Disasi could make his first appearance for the club, and there could be full debuts for new signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, who came off the bench in the FA Cup against Spurs.
Villa will remain without Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Ezri Konsa, Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley through injury.
Ipswich will continue to assess forward Sammie Szmodics, who has been struggling with an ankle injury, while goalkeeper Alex Palmer - a January signing from West Bromwich Albion - could make his Premier League debut for the Tractor Boys, having played in the FA Cup against Coventry last weekend.
Conor Chaplin, Christian Walton, Wes Burns and Chiedozie Ogbene remain out with injuries for the visitors.
Managers' Pre-Match Thoughts
"They are performing very well. I appreciate a lot how they are playing, competing. Of course, they are in the bottom of the league… but they are competing very well. We have to be focused 90 minutes, because it’s going to be a very tough match."
Unai Emery
"Of course, we're not perfect, but we've learned some lessons and we'll need to use them on Saturday. On top of that, it's also important you go there with a bravery to go and play your game and try to impose yourself on and off the ball."
Kieran McKenna
