The Stadium of Light, yes, what a wonderfully unique name for a sporting venue. It just evokes positivity, having a home ground with an official, formal name like that. We’ll see if newly promoted Sunderland can channel that (as well as their fast start) into wins, and thus stay up in the top flight.
For Aston Villa, there is no positivity right now. They are winless on the young season, and already eliminated from the League Cup competition.
Aston Villa at Sunderland FYIs
Kickoff: Sun Sept. 21, 2pm, Stadium of Light, Sunderland, UK
Aston Villa Preview Material: Team News Starting XI Prediction
Premier League Standing, Form: Aston Villa 19th, 2 pts, DLLD Sunderland 7th, 7 pts, WLWD
Google Result Probability: Aston Villa 45% Draw 29% Sunderland 26%
We were all shocked to see Nottingham Forest make Nuno Espirito Santo the first manager sacking of the season. Could Villa’s Unai Emery be next?
West Ham’s Graham Potter is probably more likely, and we would say the same for Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim, but he has said publicly that he actually has the support of his bosses; currently.
Aston Villa Starting XI Prediction at Sunderland
Emiliano Martinez; Matty Cash, Victor Lindelof, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen; Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn; Jadon Sancho, Harvey Elliott, Donyell Malen; Ollie Watkins
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter