Live match preview – A Villa vs Burnley 18.12.2021

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Aston Villa vs Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 3pm.

Team news

Keinan Davis, Marvelous Nakamba, Morgan Sanson, Anwar El Ghazi, Bertrand Traore and Leon Bailey are all out for Aston Villa on Saturday with a variety of problems.

Jacob Ramsey is poised to start again after his impressive scoring performance in the 2-0 win at Norwich on Tuesday. The midfielder has started five of Gerrard’s six games in charge.

Burnley’s midweek match against Watford was postponed late on after Covid-19 cases hit the Hornets squad, but Saturday’s game is still set to go ahead.

They are likely to again be without forwards Maxwel Cornet and Ashley Barnes, midfielder Dale Stephens and defender Connor Roberts.

The Clarets remain in the bottom three but have lost only one of their last six games, although four of those have been draws.

How to follow

Follow Aston Villa vs Burnley in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel from 5.15pm on Saturday.

Last time out…

Jones Knows prediction

Aston Villa have taken more points in six games under Steven Gerrard than they did in Dean Smith’s last 11. Those 12 points won under Gerrard’s watch have been achieved with a backdrop of a watertight defensive process that has seen them concede just five goals with an expected goals against figure of 6.3. When you factor in that they’ve played Manchester City and Liverpool in that time, it’s a very encouraging record and bodes well for Villa’s chances of breaking into the top-10 this season.

Meanwhile, Burnley have only one win to their name in their last 18 Premier League matches but have drawn 12 of their last 30 league fixtures which does show they remain a hard team to put away. With Nick Pope, Ben Mee and James Tarkowski all fit and firing in the backline, Villa may take their time to find a way through. Second-half goals are something Villa are accustomed to producing though with 17 of their 23 Premier League goals scored after the break this season. The 7/2 with Sky Bet for the game to be level at half-time and Villa to be winning at full time makes sense.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-0

BETTING ANGLE: Draw/Aston Villa in half time/full time market (7/2 with Sky Bet)

Opta stats

• 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).
• 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.

Latest Essential Football Podcast

On this week’s show we hear from former Tottenham defender Michael Dawson, and Peter Smith is joined by Sky Sports football journalists Gerard Brand, Ben Grounds and Adam Bate to look ahead to the Premier League weekend.

PART 1 | After a series of postponements, Tottenham return to the field against a flying Liverpool side on Sunday. Just how hard is that as a player? Michael Dawson assesses the challenge facing Antonio Conte’s men.

PART 2 | Arsenal had a good midweek, moving fourth in the Premier League table with a win over West Ham. Can they stay there? Gerard Brand discusses their prospects. Plus, Ben Grounds tells us about his sitdown with Marcelo Bielsa in the wake of Leeds’ awful 7-0 defeat at the hands of Man City.

PART 3 | Indeed, Pep Guardiola’s side are on the title charge, with seven wins in a row. Adam Bate explains how the manager’s way of playing allows City to go on such devastating winning streaks – and, at the other end of the table, what their opponents this weekend, Newcastle, must do to stay up.