English Premier League – Match Preview: Sunderland versus Aston Villa
Aston Villa make a short trip to the east side of British Isles as they visit Tyneside to face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland have been on a good run of form recently as they have transformed their home stadium
into a fortress where they seldom drop points. So, it will be an extremely hard task for Villa to get anything from the encounter which looks to be one of the marquee matches of the upcoming league weekend.
Villa had opened their season with an emphatic win over West Ham United at Villa Park, after which they lost to Newcastle United at the Saint James’s Park by six goals to nil. Following the terrible defeat to Newcastle United,
Villa were disjointed under their caretaker manager, Kevin MacDonald, who was appointed the club’s first team manager after Villa’s ex-manager, Martin O’Neill left before the season started on 8th of August, 2010. Kevin MacDonald was in charge at
Aston Villa but only temporarily till their defeat to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, after which the club’s owner, Randy Lerner came to the forefront and appointed Gerard Houllier as the club’s first team manager on a permanent basis.
Houllier’s first game as in charge at Aston Villa was against Wolverhampton Wanders, a match that was won by Villa, courtesy of a brilliantly taken header by Emile Heskey. However, quite disappointingly enough, Villa have failed
to win ever since that win over Wolves as they drew their last league match against Chelsea and before that they lost to Tottenham Hotspurs at the White Hart Lane. Nonetheless, it is expected to be a season of transition for Villa as a club who has achieved
sixth placed spot in the previous English Premier League season.
Villa’s standout player this season has been their left winger, Stewart Downing. Downing was bought by Villa before the 2008-2009 season kicked off and since then, the winger has done amazingly well for Gerard Houllier’s side.
In the 2010-2011 season so far, the English national team midfielder has already scored three goals in eight league matches, a figure that he will no doubt be aiming to improve upon. Villa’s second highest goalscorer is the ex-English international striker,
Emile Heskey with two goals. Heskey has been a consistent performer for Villa every time he has played for the Birmingham club but his injury problems haven’t allowed him to qualify for a regular first team place.
On the other hand, Sunderland’s home form has been the cause of their ascendency in the English league this season. The black cats have already earned draws against Manchester United and Arsenal at the Stadium of Light this season
and if they continue their form as it is going, they could be in contention for the Europa League finish come May of 2011. Sunderland’s highest goalscorer this season has been their prolific striker, Darren bent. Bent, who made his move to Sunderland last
season from Tottenham Hotspurs in the summer transfer window of 2009, has scored five goals so far for the Black cats in eight appearances.
However, Sunderland’s over dependency on Bent can be the cause of their downfall as well as even a slight niggling injury to the English national will result in a shortage of firepower for Steve Bruce’s side. Sunderland drew their
last league match with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park with a score line of nil all. Before that Steve Bruce’s squad drew with Manchester United at their home ground and drew two all with Liverpool as well at Anfield.
As the match is taking place at Sunderland’s home stadium and given the fact that they are almost unbeatable at home, the Black Cats will be favourites to win the match. Regardless, it is quite possible that Villa might scrape
an away draw but their away form has been anything but impressive this season.
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