After stumbling in the last two matches, Aston Villa will be targeting a return to winning ways as they welcome Burley to Villa Park for a Premier League fixture. While things have been a bit difficult lately, the Villans are still solid at home and should have too much for Burnley, who continue to struggle in the topflight.
Aston Villa are coming off a 3-2 defeat to Manchester United in their previous Premier League fixture. They raced to a two goal lead in the first half through John McGinn and Leander Dendoncker but suffered a defensive capitulation after the break.
Manager Unai Emery will be disappointed with the result, particularly the defensive display which has been a common thread lately as Aston Villa are without a clean sheet in the last four matches. However, despite all of that, they have only suffered just one defeat in their last 10 matches.
Aston Villa will be pleased to be returning to Villa Park which has turned into a fortress in recent times. They are unbeaten in their last 16 Premier League home matches, claiming 15 wins in that run, including victories over Manchester City and Arsenal.
Burnley are also coming off a defeat as they were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool last time out in the Premier League. They were no match for the superior quality of the Reds and failed to muster a single attempt on target throughout the contest.
While that result was expected, the lack of fight will be particularly disappointing to manager Vincent Kompany, especially as they had won 2-0 at Fulham in their previous fixture. The Clarets remain mired in the relegation zone and may be slowly getting cut adrift as they sit five points from safety.
While it has been a generally disappointing return to the topflight for Burnley, they will take some positives to Villa Park having gone unbeaten in their last two away matches. They played out a 1-1 draw at Brighton prior to the win over Fulham.
How the bookies view it
Aston Villa have been installed as overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a home win priced at 4/11 by bet365. An unlikely victory for Burnley is valued at 8/1 with Paddy Power while a draw is set at odds of 4/1 by Coral.
Head to head
Aston Villa and Burnley have 30 wins each with 20 draws from 80 previous matches. However Villa are unbeaten in the last three meetings and picked up a 3-1 victory in the reverse fixture back in August.
Players to watch
Although he has looked slightly off colour in recent weeks, Ollie Watkins remains the leading scorer for Aston Villa with nine Premier League goals. He will be the one to watch on Saturday and is priced at 19/20 by Betfred to find the net.
Burnley will be keen to take advantage of Villa’s defensive vulnerability and will look to Wilson Odobert, who has been in fine form lately. The attacker has found the net in the last two away matches and is priced at 6/1 with Unibet to maintain his scoring run.
Anything else catch the eye?
The reverse fixture produced over 3.5 goals, which is priced at 29/20 by Unibet. Over 2.5 goals could also be considered at 4/7 with William Hill while both teams could also be backed to score at 9/19 with 888Sport.
Aston Villa are priced at minimal odds for a straight victory and given their defensive vulnerability, a win and both teams to score could be considered at 15/8 with bet365.
This English Premier League match between Aston Villa and Burnley will be played on Dec 30, 2023 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Aston Villa vs Burnley prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
