Aston Villa are due to face rock-bottom Sunderland, on Tuesday at the Stadium of Light. Steve Bruce’s men constructed a 2-4 away win against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday and are currently placed at the 3rd spot in the Championship table with 63 points to their name from 34 games. The Black Cats, however, have been in stuttering form throughout this campaign.
Team News
Although Jack Grealish is expected to be fit for the weekend fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers, it would be a touch-and-go situation for the clash against Sunderland. Andre Green is recovering from his hamstring problem and isn’t expected to feature.
Alan Hutton and Axel Tuanzebe are also struggling with injury concerns. While the Villans should see the return of Albert Adomah, two other players in Jonathan Kodjia and Jed Steer are still out due to ankle and shoulder injury, respectively.
Goalkeeper
Sam Johnstone is likely to be handed the role of the custodian yet again. The 24-year-old shot-stopper has notched up 14 clean sheets from 34 appearances in the league this season, making 2.59 saves per game on an average and has been a reliable player between the sticks.
Defence
One of the main reasons for the success of the Lions has been the strong camaraderie that James Chester and John Terry have been able to engineer amongst themselves. These two should be getting the green light to start once again in the upcoming fixture.
Hutton’s absence implies that Neil Taylor might step in at the left-back slot. Taylor is more than a decent fullback and should do a decent job. At right-back, Ahmed Elmohamady is likely to start once again to showcase his industry.
Midfield
Conor Hourihane and Glenn Whelan are expected to be teamed up in the middle of the park. Both of them managed to find the back of the net against the Owls and they would be looking forward to making their presence felt against Coleman’s entourage.
With Adomah back and raring to go, Josh Onomah is likely to lose his place on the left side of the midfield to the former. Adomah has smashed 13 goals and registered 3 assists in 27 Championship appearances. Robert Snodgrass has really dazzled for Aston Villa from the wide areas on the right and deserves to get yet another start.
Attack
Scott Hogan is expected to start as a striker alongside Lewis Grabban up front. They have worked well together in the recent fixtures and Bruce is unlikely to trifle with the combination.
Statistics Credits: WhoScored & Squawka