Newcastle traveled to Villa Park with a form of winning all 5 recent matches in the Premier League. Their opponent will be the home team Aston Villa, who are also unbeaten in the last 5 matches and have a series of 4 wins.
Since Unai Emery's first match against Aston Villa at the end of November 2022, only Arsenal have won more points than the Villa Park team. Only Emery's former side have won more in the same period than Aston Villa. The Spaniard is showing his cool hand. The Villans have won 11 times, earning an additional 35 points to break away from the relegation ticket competition to the European Cup ticket competition.
If they beat Newcastle in the next home match, Aston Villa will have won five consecutive Premier League games for the first time in the 21st century. That is the milestone Emery and his students are aiming for.
Emery had rejected an offer to lead Newcastle when the newly invested Arabian bosses had just invested in the club. Taking advantage of the Villans, he helped the Midlands side narrow the gap with the Magpies to three in the table and nine points less.
As for Newcastle, in the first leg, they crushed Aston Villa with a score of 4-0 at home at St. Petersburg. James' Park. If they win at Villa Park this time, Newcastle will have won their opponents in both the first and second legs of a season for the first time since 2013-2014. In fact, in the last 2 matches, the "Magpies" won both in the context of the previous 7 matches, they could not enjoy this feeling against the Villans.
Emery's breakthrough with Villa has in common with Eddie Howe. The English captain has played 17 Premier League games against Newcastle in the same period and has also earned 35 points. After a period of continuous draws and an accidental loss to Liverpool, the "Magpies" have returned very strongly and are preparing to realize their dream of playing in the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.
Eddie Howe's team has revived and awakened since the defeat to Manchester United in the League Cup final. The current Newcastle version is similar to what they have been doing since the beginning of the season: fast, bold and fearless.
This is the time for Newcastle to prove that they are truly a team that is looking to reach new heights. The big opponents in the Big Six and the teams that are struggling to take their positions, Howe and his team must handle it all if they do not want to break their dream at the end of the season.
Expected lineup:
Aston Villa: Martinez; Young, Konsa, Mings, Moreno; McGinn, Luiz; Traore, Buendia, Ramsey; Watkins
Newcastle United: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Joelinton; Almiron, Wilson, Murphy
The match between Aston Villa and Newcastle will take place at 6:30 p.m. on April 15 (Vietnam time), live on K+.
