Sunderland vs Aston Villa - English Premier League

Sunderland vs Aston Villa.
Premier League: 10. Round
Date: 29. October 2011
Stadium: Stadium of Light, Sunderland

Sunderland host Aston Villa on Saturday in what is traditionally a tight fixture. The sides have met 20 times in the Premier League but Sunderland have only found the net more than once on one of those occasions; this season both sides have failed to score more than twice in six of their first nine games.

Craig Gordon nears a return from a knee injury for the Black Cats, providing Steve Bruce with a decision over his goalkeeper after Simon Mignolet has helped Sunderland concede fewer league goals than any side apart from Manchester City and Chelsea. Unfortunately the Belgian's run in the side has coincided with just two victories in nine games, leaving Bruce's side in 14th.

For Aston Villa, Jermaine Jenas is close to full fitness but unlikely to be risked this weekend. Alex McLeish will look to Gabriel Agbonlahor and Darren Bent to continue their relatively strong starts to the season, but with the Villains having drawn over half of their games so far, he'll be under pressure from their fans to deliver some excitement. Charles N'Zogbia has failed to have the impact he had at Wigan thus far, but perhaps facing his old manager's side will give the sometimes temperamental Frenchman some motivation.

Head to Head :
Last Meeting: 5. January 2011 Aston Villa 0 - 1 Sunderland
Wins Sunderland : 50
Wins Aston Villa : 70
Draws : 38

Recent Performance :
Sunderland - W/L/D/L/W
Aston Villa - L/D/W/L/L

Possible Line-Ups :
Sunderland : Mignolet - Brown, O'shea, Bramble, El Mohamadi, Larsson, Gardner, Richardson, Vaughan, Sessegnon, Bendtner.
Aston Villa : Given - Hutton, Warnock, Dunne, Collins, N'Zogbia, Petrov, Bannan, Herd, Bent, Agbonlahor.

Betting Tip / Prediction :
Sunderland host Aston Villa on Saturday in what is traditionally a tight fixture. The sides have met 20 times in the Premier League but Sunderland have only found the net more than once on one of those occasions; this season both sides have failed to score more than twice in six of their first nine games.
Our prediction : Sunderland win