BUILD UP
Aston Villa face Sean Dyche and his struggling Burnley side in round 18 of the Premier League, coming off the back of the comfortable 2-0 win over former head coach Dean Smith and his rock-bottom Norwich City on Tuesday night.
A wonder goal from Jacob Ramsey and a late Ollie Watkins tap-in were enough to see the game over the line for the Villans, in a performance that was near enough faultless from start to finish.
This recent victory makes it four wins from six for Steven Gerrard since his appointment in mid-November, and the twelve points he has helped earn sees his claret and blue side rise to the top half of the table.
Burnley have had their previous two games cancelled, against Tottenham Hotspur and Watford, for weather and COVID related issues, and so Villa may have an advantage in terms of fitness and preparation leading into the fixture.
Sean Dyche and his team seemingly got the better of Villa last season however, with frustrating results consisting of an underwhelming 0-0 at Villa Park, and the second-half 3-2 collapse at Turf Moor.
Gerrard will certainly be looking at doing something about these recent meetings and gain another three points as he faces against a Burnley side who sit in a disappointing 18th place, having earned just eleven points in the fifteen games they have played.
Can Gerrard continue his successful start to life at Villa, or can Sean Dyche conjure up a master-plan and keep up the form of last season to defeat the Villans?
TEAM NEWS
There is plenty of new information to go over in terms of team news leading into Saturday’s game at Villa Park, with a number of players still out, recently receiving heart-breaking injury news or returning to the side.
To start, we break the dreadful news surrounding Marvelous Nakamba, whereby the Zimbabwean midfielder faces a large spell on the sidelines with a knee injury sustained in the loss at Anfield last week. This not only rules him out of club action for a while, but is likely to affect his international duties and the upcoming AFCON tournament.
Nakamba has been in fine form since Gerrard’s appointment, and Villa fans have only sung the number 19’s praises in the last run of games, so this will certainly be a big miss, and will leave a big hole in the heart of the team.
Elsewhere, wingers Bertrand Traore and Leon Bailey will be unavailable as they continue to recover from this respective muscular injuries. Both are expected back at the end of the year/start of 2022.
Jed Steer, Morgan Sanson and Anwar El Ghazi, who are among the names to have reportedly missed the Norwich game in the week through COVID, are unknown as to whether they will be available for selection on the weekend. All is expected to be revealed in Steven Gerrard’s pre-match press conference on Friday.
As for the opposition report, Sean Dyche looks to be without summer signing Connor Roberts, as he faces time on the sideline with an unknown illness that has left the full-back in hospital for the last few days. Roberts’ fiancee posted an update on the Welsh international’s health on Saturday, stating:
Burnley are also expected to be without Austrian striker Ashley Barnes, who has struggled for minutes this campaign with a thigh injury. Fellow forward Maxwell Cornet, who has impressed since his arrival, is touch and go for the Clarets leading into the fixture, as he attempts to recover quickly enough from a thigh injury that would see him available for selection.
THE OPPONENTS
This week’s opponents is of course Burnley FC, managed by Sean Dyche who has been at the club since 2012, making him the longest-serving manager in the league, and for good reason too, having successfully kept his side in the top tier of English football for a number of years when it has appeared they were destined to be relegated.
Burnley have become recognised over the last five or six years for playing a very particular type of football, which is typically very direct and aerially-orientated. Dyche has been thought to play this style of play due to limited funds at the club, which has pushed him to acclimatize and set out a brand of football that gets the best out of the players he has at his disposal.
Dyche recorded a club-record finish in the league in 2018, the season he signed his ongoing four year deal, where he led his side to a 7th place finish, ensuring Europa League qualification in the process.
This achievement has been one of the many inner-league triumphs we have seen over the last decade or so, and the fans at Turf Moor adore Sean Dyche for his contribution and dedication to the club in the 9 years he has been there.
This appreciation for the 50 year-old is so great and immense, that a pub in the streets of Lancashire renamed from ‘The Princess Royal’ to ‘The Royal Dyche’ in honour of his successes (as seen below).
Burnley are among one of the lowest scorers in the division having only seen 14 goals go in their favour all campaign, and only Wolves (13) and Norwich (8) have scored less than them. This, of course, is a positive for Gerrard and his side, especially given the rigidness of their back line of late, but with that being said, this weekend’s away side certainly still pose a threat in-front of goal.
This season’s top goal scorer for the Clarets is record signing Maxwell Cornet, who has looked remarkable in the side since his move away from French side Olympique Lyonnais in the summer. The fact the Côte d’Ivoire born winger may miss the game will be a big plus for Steven Gerrard, but if he is available, he will definitely be the man that could make something happen for the away side, and is the one to keep an eye on down the left.
Burnley have only won one game in the league all season, a 3-1 victory over Thomas Frank’s Brentford, and as a result have drawn eight, and lost six. It has without a doubt been a below-par opening fifteen games for the Clarets, and with two games less worth of fitness and readiness coming into the game than their hosts, Sean Dyche will have plenty of work to do in training ahead of this one.
The team from Lancashire are one that have been known to pull off some surprise results over the years however, including that monumental away victory at Anfield last season that put an end to Liverpool’s 68 year unbeaten record at home, so they certainly can not be disregarded by any stretch of the imagination.
FINAL THOUGHTS
For once, I think this is a game that Villa can win quite comfortably, but only if they are at the races from the start and pursue their dominance throughout the duration of the 90 minutes. I have very few quarrels that this will not happen though, given Gerrard’s demanding approach that we have laid witness to so far, that has seen the Head Coach require and expect performances from each player at every given time, whether it be in training or on a match day.
I also think the form we are in at the minute, and the way Gerrard has the side playing is truly a joy to watch both in possession and off the ball. This gives me so much reassurance and belief leading into the fixture, and this feeling of confidence must be emulated by the players.
Burnley however, are a far more physical side than us, and with that, I believe Villa will need to keep the ball on the deck for as long as possible, and play to their technical strengths in order to outwit the travelling team. John McGinn will be as crucial as he always is in that Villa midfield, as will Douglas Luiz who is expected to play his second consecutive game in the holding role, previously occupied by Nakamba.
Overall, I think we will come out victorious, and like the previous game, do so with relative ease, so I am going to go for Aston Villa 2-0 Burnley, with Danny Ings and Emiliano Buendia to bag the goals for the home side. Let’s hope we can win the battle of the claret and blues, and continue our mid-season surge for European football.
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