Aston Villa - Match Preview

Early Team News

Ashley Young is expected to sit out the fixture as he contemplates a £9.65 transfer to the Midlands club, which will in all probability mean a first start for new signing from Rotherham United, Will Hoskins.

Elsewhere, Dan Shittu is struggling with an ankle problem, and James Chambers is definitely ruled out as he has not yet recovered from a gash picked up at Newcastle United before Christmas.

Stilivan Petrov is out for the hosts with a hamstring problem.

For a detailed look at the early team news, please click here.

History of the Aston Villa v Watford fixture

Watford travel to take on Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon, needing to turn around their fortunes at the ground. The Golden Boys will be hoping to improve upon a record which has seen them with only a 12.50% success rate in the fixture.

The last time the two teams met at Aston Villa was back in February 2000, over five years ago, as the hosts swept to an impressive four goal success in a Premiership match.

For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here

Recent encounters between the teams:
2006/2007	Sat 16 Sep	Watford	0-0	Aston Villa	PREM
1999/2000	Sat 05 Feb	Aston Villa	4-0	Watford	PREM
1999/2000	Tue 24 Aug	Watford	0-1	Aston Villa	PREM
1986/1987	Wed 25 Mar	Aston Villa	1-1	Watford	PREM
1986/1987	Sat 18 Oct	Watford	4-2	Aston Villa	PREM
1985/1986	Sat 12 Apr	Aston Villa	4-1	Watford	PREM
1985/1986	Sat 09 Nov	Watford	1-1	Aston Villa	PREM

Recent respective form guides

Gabriel Agbonlahor: Will the man who spent a month on loan at Watford last season help ease Aston Villa's goal drought.

Aston Villa's poor home run has seen them win just 1 and draw 2 of the last six. While the Villans have scored four, a worryingly high number of 8 goals have been leaked at the other end.

The away form of Watford is pretty dire, managing a paltry 2 draws from the last six matches. Aidy Boothroyd's side has conceded 10 times during this spell, and only managed to hit 2 in reply.

Aston Villa, without a win since defeating Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday 11 November 2006, find themselves struggling down in 15th position in the league having picked up 26 points from their 23 matches, while Watford find themselves stuck right at the bottom of the Barclays Premiership, having collected just 12 points from their 21 games played to date.

For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here

Current form guides:	P	W	D	L	F	A	P
Aston Villa	6	0	1	5	4	12	1
Watford	6	1	1	4	6	10	4

FootyMad'sPrediction…

Martin O'Neill: Will it be the Irishman or the Yorkshireman who has his arms raised at full time?

Whilst most pundits will be predicting a returning to winning ways for Martin O'Neill's men, here at the Golden Boys we feel Boothroyd's battlers may just spring a surprise and predict a single goal victory for the visitors.

Away Win.

Sequence statistics:
Aston Villa	Failed to win in previous 5 home matches. Latest 2 games ended in defeat. Not won in the 12 most recent games.
Watford	Not won in previous 11 away matches.

Aston Villa - Match Preview

Last updated : 20 January 2007 By Gary Holmes