Aston Villa v Stoke City team news & stats

Mark Holmes
Stoke City: Won at Aston Villa last season

Stoke City: Won at Aston Villa last season

Aston Villa have won only two of their last Premier League meetings with Stoke City going into Saturday’s latest encounter at Villa Park.

Team news

Gabby Agbonlahor should return from a calf injury for Aston Villa, but Adama Traore is a doubt with a similar problem sustained on Under-21 duty in the week.

Stoke, meanwhile, have a major doubt over Xherdan Shaqiri after he was withdrawn with a thigh strain against Bournemouth last weekend. Mame Diouf and Ibrahim Afellay are the likely contenders to take his place in the XI.

Marc Wilson is expected to miss out again with a calf injury.

Opta stats

  • Aston Villa have won just two of their last 11 Premier League meetings with Stoke City (D5 L4).
  • Stoke have averaged 1.43 points per game in the PL at Villa Park. Only at West Brom have they won more PL points, 2.5 (minimum 5 games).
  • Villa have registered just one victory in their seven Premier League meetings with Stoke at Villa Park, losing the last two (D4).
  • The Villans have scored exactly one goal in each of their last four PL clashes with Stoke and have netted more than once in just one of their last 12 top-tier games against the Potters.
  • Aston Villa’s last three Premier League games have all ended in defeats by a one-goal margin for the Villans. One more similar loss for Villa will equal the joint-longest such run in PL history (four in a row).
  • This is Stoke’s second-worst-ever PL start to a season after seven games, with their six-point haul this season two more than they managed in 2008/09 (when they still finished 12th).
  • Since August 2013, Rudy Gestede has scored 21 headed goals in league competition, six more than any other player in the English top-four tiers.
  • Stoke’s Mame Biram Diouf has netted five goals in his last seven Premier League appearances.
  • Peter Crouch has scored in his last two top-flight starts against Aston Villa, while overall he has bagged five PL goals versus his former club. Only versus Arsenal, Blackburn and Newcastle has he scored more.
  • Ashley Westwood is one game shy of his 100th Premier League appearance for Aston Villa, netting three goals and providing 10 assists so far.

Predictions

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