Overview
After dropping important points in 2 consecutive Premier League matches against Brentford (losing 0-1) and Bournemouth (drawing 1-1), Aston Villa returned to the winning streak in the middle of last week. Unai Emery's team defeated Brighton 1-0 at home thanks to a own goal in the 86th minute by Jack Hinshelwood.
Currently ranked third in the rankings, Villa takes advantage of Man United's (fourth) and Chelsea's (fifth) stumble to strengthen hopes of winning tickets to the Champions League next season. The door to conquering the FA Cup is still wide open for the team that has won this tournament seven times.
Last month, Aston Villa eliminated Tottenham Hotspur in the 3rd round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 victory right in North London, and also defeated Spurs in the 4th round last season. However, they have never gone further than this stage in two consecutive seasons since the period 2008-2009 to 2010-2011.
In 5/6 previous seasons where Villa and Newcastle faced each other in the FA Cup, either Villa (1895, 1897, 1905, 1924) or Newcastle (1905, 1924, 1952) both reached the final that year. There were even two seasons where the two teams met in the final (1904-1905 and 1923-1924).
Villa has eliminated Newcastle from the FA Cup four times (1894-1895, 1896-1897, 1904-1905, 2000-2001), but lost in the finals of the 1923-1924 season and the 3rd round of the 1951-1952 season. In all competitions, Villa is also unbeaten in the last three encounters with Newcastle (2 wins, 1 draw), scoring 6 goals and conceding only 1 goal.
In the opposite direction, just 3 days after being booed by fans at St James' Park for the bitter 2-3 defeat to Brentford at home, Newcastle reacted strongly with a 2-1 victory right at Tottenham Hotspur's stadium. This is their third away win after 13 matches in the Premier League this season.
It was a forgettable night for Thomas Frank, who was later sacked by Spurs, but coach Eddie Howe is certainly satisfied with the morale boost. Before this victory, Newcastle only won 1 out of 8 matches in all competitions (2 draws, 5 losses) and conceded 15 goals.
Currently ranked 10th in the Premier League, Newcastle also faces a dense and harsh schedule. They will successively face Man City, Everton, Man United, Chelsea and Sunderland in the next 5 rounds, and also play in the Champions League knockout round against Qarabag, including a long back-and-forth journey to Azerbaijan.
However, in the immediate future, the "Magpies" must focus on the FA Cup, with the goal of reaching the next round and passing the round of 4 for the third consecutive season when facing Aston Villa. In the round 3 months ago, Howe's team had to rely on a penalty shootout to eliminate Bournemouth after a dramatic 3-3 draw in the Northeast region.
Newcastle entered this match with a record of 6 wins in their last 11 away matches in the FA Cup (2 draws, 3 losses), after a period of 15 consecutive winless matches away from home. However, they lost 10/13 recent away matches against Premier League opponents (2 wins, 1 draw), and were silent in 8/9 recent matches.
Personnel situation
Aston Villa players are currently still out of action due to injuries including Youri Tielemans (ankle), John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara (both knee injuries), and Andres Garcia (brother). Meanwhile, newcomer Alysson (joined in January) has recovered from a knee injury and is likely to be on the registered squad list.
On the other side, Newcastle is still missing Joelinton (arms), Tino Livramento (legs), Fabian Schar (ankle) and Emil Krafth (knee) due to injuries. Coach Eddie Howe is also worried about the fitness of Bruno Guimaraes (hamstring) and Lewis Miley (legs) - two cases that are still uncertain to play in the away match to Villa Park.
Expected lineup:
Aston Villa: Bizot, Bogarde, Lindelof, Torres, Digne, Onana, Luiz, Bailey, Rogers, Buendia, Abraham.
Pope, Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Hall, Willock, Tonali, Ramsey, Barnes, Woltemade, Gordon.
The match between Aston Villa and Newcastle takes place at 0:45 am on February 15 (Vietnam time).
