English Premier League Preview: Aston Villa Travel To The Stadium Of Light, Where Sunderland Hope For More Than A Draw

Aston Villa are giving their supporters a bit of a roller coaster ride this season: An impressive win to open league play, followed by a 6-0 loss to Newcastle and a quick exit from the Europa League. The inability to close down Stoke City, but a draw with Chelsea. Which Aston Villa team will show up at the Stadium of Light? Meanwhile, Sunderland face no such identity crisis, having drawn six times in eight matches. Goodness, I don’t want to see the Black Cats face off against Fulham. Would the ball even move?

Projected Lineup, Sunderland (4-5-1): Mignolet—Bardsley, Bramble, Turner, Onuoha—Welbeck, Malbranque, Cattermole, Henderson, Elmohamady—Bent

Projected Lineup, Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) (I hope): Friedel—Warnock, Dunne, Collins, Beye—Petrov, Reo-Coker—A. Young, Ireland, Downing—Heskey

Key Battle: Darren Bent against the Villa defense. Bent’s scored seven times in all competitions, and the only other Sunderland player who has scored this season is Asamoah Gyan, who still hasn’t found a starting role with Sunderland. With multiple knocks and bumps, the visitors have barely rolled out the same defense twice, and this week will be no different, with Luke Young out with a hamstring tear. Habib Beye will likely replace L Young on the right, but it’s the middle that will need to hold back Bent. Gerard Houllier continues to use Richard Dunne, even though he appears to be less than fully fit, and one slip from the center back could see Bent scoring a goal.

Battle Within The Battle: Villa need to make sure Ashley Young stays happy, which is why we could still see a switcheroo in this lineup, with Young moving back to the hole behind Heskey, Ireland dropping out and Albrighton coming back into the mix. Houllier has said that Young’s contract negotiations will be delayed while he “concentrates on football”, which is code for “figures out if he can succeed at Aston Villa.” If the team doesn’t want to see yet another fantastic player slip away, Villa will need to appease Young by both keeping the England international happy and advancing up in the table.

Pick: It’s Sunderland. It’s the Stadium of Light. Aston Villa will be chasing the win but it won’t transpire: 1-1 draw.