Aston Villa-Newcastle is a match of the 22nd day of the Premier League and is played on Tuesday at 9:15 pm: live TV, probable formations, predictions.
Aston Villa’s championship began precisely from the challenge with Newcastle. Last August we witnessed a real monologue of the Magpies, who even rifilarono 5 goals to Unai Emery’s team (5-1). A shock that the Birmingham club, however, managed to overcome immediately, proving that that drubbing represented only a trivial mishap. Since that game, in fact, Aston Villa has scored an impressive 43 points – as many as 14 more than Newcastle – and is in the thick of the race for a place in the top four.
The Villans are going far beyond what were the expectations at the beginning of the season, even managing to dose their energies to cope with the double commitment: they have also shone in the Conference League, qualifying directly for the round of 16 (they will not play the play-offs) and remaining the main favorites for the final victory. Even talking about the title is not a utopia: Aston Villa right now has the same points as Arsenal and Manchester City – third and second, respectively – and only five less than leading Liverpool. In the first league fixture of 2024 came a deadlocked draw with Everton, the same result that accrued last Friday in the FA Cup fourth-round match with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge: a replay will be needed to decide who will advance to the next round.
Newcastle’s losing streak
The domestic cup, on the other hand, allowed Newcastle to “breathe again” after a long series of negative results in the league: on Sunday, Eddie Howe’s men beat Fulham 2-0 at home.
Now, however, everything possible must be done to avoid yet another defeat in the Premier League: after last January 13’s 3-2 loss to Manchester City, four consecutive knockouts have become the Bianconeri’s consecutive losses, and they are in danger of missing out on qualification for the next European cups. The Magpies are stuck on 29 points and for now have to settle for an anonymous 10th place. Among the main causes of this steep decline are injuries: in addition to the disqualified Tonali, Wilson, Barnes, Targett, Pope, Willock, Anderson and Joelinton remain in the infirmary.
The Prediction
Aston Villa at home has been almost perfect in this first part of the season: in front of their home crowd they have only cashed in one defeat in their last 17 games. It is difficult to assume a hit from Newcastle, which, in addition to being re-staffed, on the other hand struggles a lot on the away side and is even second-to-last in terms of external performance. At least two goals overall.
The likely lineups for Aston Villa-Newcastle
ASTON VILLA (4-4-2): Martinez; Konsa, Diego Carlos, Lenglet, Moreno; Bailey, Douglas Luiz, Kamara, McGinn; Diaby, Watkins.
NEWCASTLE (4-3-3): Dubravka; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Miley; Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
