Aston Villa hosts Newcastle United in a matchup of two sides that played in midweek albeit in different competitions. Newcastle continued their very scorching hot form, thrashing Crystal Palace 5-0 on Wednesday night.
They’ve now won their last six across all competitions, putting up a 17-3 aggregate goal differential across that span.
Newcastle United at Aston Villa
Kickoff: Sat. Apr. 19, 5:30pm, Villa Park, Birmingham, UK
PL Form, Standings: Aston Villa 7th, 54 pts, LWWWW Newcastle 3rd 59 pts, WWWWW
Google Result Probability: Aston Villa 41% Draw 25% Newcastle 33%
Team News
Meanwhile Villa are playing much better lately, themselves, but they still have ground to make up in the race for UCL qualification for next season.
Speaking of the UCL, the Villans saw their 2024-25 campaign come to an end on Tuesday, in the quarterfinals, at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain. This despite having a fully fit squad, a status they’ll maintain heading into the weekend.
Newcastle also have no real team news to speak of, as they emerged unscathed from injury in the rout of Palace.
Thus their situation remains the same, with only Lewis Hall, Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles currently sidelined.
Starting XI Predictions
Aston Villa
Emi Martinez; Matty Cash, Ezra Konsa, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen; Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey; Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers, John McGinn; Ollie Watkins
Newcastle
Nick Pope; Tino Livramento, Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Emil Krafth; Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes, Sean Longstaff; Harvey Barnes, Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak
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