Two of the most in-form teams meet in the Premier League on Saturday and neither outfit is going to want to see their recent momentum stalled.
In Form Teams
Not even the most ardent Aston Villa supporter would have imagined a top-six finish a month or so ago but this prospect is now becoming a rather realistic one.
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Eyes On Europe
Aston Villa are undefeated in their last seven league outings and Newcastle have won each of their last five. As a consequence the former have suddenly found themselves in the European paying positions and the latter have rebooted their bid to reach the Champions League.
Unfortunately for Villa and the Magpies they have to meet each other this Saturday lunchtime and at least one of the two outfits are going to suffer dropped points just two hours later. An intriguing clash it must be said and one where the result will see ramifications felt elsewhere.
While there is no doubt that Unai Emery’s men have been a team transformed and in fairness to the former Arsenal and Villarreal manager, the transformation has certainly been shaped the new man at the Villa Park helm.
Even when Emery was installed after the sacking of Steven Gerrard earlier in the campaign, it was felt that the remit would be nothing more than getting to grips with his newly inherited personnel and building something for next season.
That remit has been turbocharged and then some over the past weeks, as the door to Europe has almost been kicked down and the one player who typifies such improvement is none other than Ollie Watkins.
A forward who was played wide right during Gerrard’s tenure but after the departure of Danny Ings to West Ham, Watkins has thrived in his favoured position and his favourite thing of late has been scoring goals.
Of course, you could also say the same about Alexander Isak for the opposition. The Swedish forward has admittedly had something of a stop-start campaign and for two reasons. The first has been a number of niggling injuries, the second has been Newcastle’s own forward conundrum.
Because with Callum Wilson also being tasked with leading the Magpies’ attack, Eddie Howe has been given a rather nice problem at times. Can you fit both Wilson and Isak up top? They certainly dovetailed each other during Saturday’s win over Brentford.
While the extra component of Newcastle’s attack has certainly kickstarted their season. They were just floundering on either side of the EFL Cup final, now they are in the driving seat to snare one of two remaining Champions League invites.
This now leads me to the first of my two tips and because there is very little to split the two teams before Saturday, I am not going to try. Therefore, I am going to back a lunchtime draw and both teams to score at 7/2.
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Aston Villa vs Newcastle Tips
Our Main Pick For The Lunchtime EPL Match
While I am also going to use both teams to score angle as the basis for my next tip. I mentioned Watkins and Isak above and at odds of 17/2, I have backed the two players to each get their name on Saturday’s scoresheet.
Aston Villa vs Newcastle Tips
Two Strikers Have Been in Red-Hot Form Lately
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