Aston Villa vs Sheffield United: Prediction and Preview

When Aston Villa hosts struggling Sheffield United at Villa Park on Friday, they want to continue their improbable Premier League title challenge.

Unai Emery’s team entered Matchday 18 third in the league standings, only one point behind champions Arsenal, after winning 12 of their first 17 games.

With just eight points from their 17 games, Sheffield United is now leading the division and six points out of safety.

Villa has won all 15 of their previous Premier League home games, which is a testament to their outstanding home performance.

Only three Premier League teams have won more straight games at home: Liverpool (24 between 2019 and 2020), Manchester City (20 between 2011 and 2012), and Manchester United (19 between 2010 and 2011). This is their longest run of that kind in league history.

Since taking over at Villa Park in October 2022, Emery has had a tremendous influence. In 2023, the Villans won 25 Premier League games, which is a record for the most wins in a single calendar year in the team’s history. In the Premier League in 2023, only Man City (87) has accrued more points than Villa (81).

Ollie Watkins has also been a huge factor in Villa’s sublime form, and he needs only one goal to make it 10+ goals in each of his first four Premier League seasons. The Villa frontman could be the first Englishman to achieve that feat since Robbie Fowler between 1993-94 and 1996-97.

Watkins has nine goals this season and has 10+ goals in all three seasons for Villa so far – the last player to score 10+ goals in four consecutive top-flight seasons for the club was Peter Withe (1980-81 to 1984-85).

After being promoted last season, Sheffield United already has their work cut out for them if they want to stay in the top division. As things stand, their 8.4 shots per game are the lowest of any team in a single Premier League season (since 1997–98).

The Blades have only triumphed in two of their previous 33 away Premier League games (four draws and 27 losses); their victories came in January 2021 against Manchester United and May 2021 against Everton. With one draw and seven losses on the road thus far this season, they are the only Premier League team without a victory.

Villa have won their last two Premier League games played on a Friday, as many as they had in their first 12 such games (four draws, six defeats). They will be a little shorthanded for this week’s game, though, with a number of injuries to worry about.

In the 2-1 win at Brentford last time out, Boubacar Kamara was sent off late on and will therefore be suspended for Friday. Lucas Digne and Douglas Luiz will both return from one-game suspensions, though Pau Torres and Bertrand Traoré will miss out through injury.

Youri Tielemans could be fit for kick-off after missing the Brentford trip, but Emi Buendía and Tyrone Mings both remain long-term absentees from the lineup. Robin Olsen is also unavailable through injury.

Chris Wilder will be boosted by the return from suspension of Jack Robinson. However, Rhys Norrington-Davies, John Egan, Tom Davies, Daniel Jebbison and Chris Basham are not expected back until 2024. Rhian Brewster is also unavailable.

Aston Villa vs Sheffield United Head-to-Head

Since losing 2-0 in January 1966, Aston Villa has gone undefeated in their previous 14 home league games against Sheffield United (eight victories, six draws).

In their last four Premier League encounters with Aston Villa, Sheffield United has maintained three clean sheets (two wins, one draw, and one loss). The other match ended in a 1-0 loss in September 2020.

When the teams last faced off in March 2021, Sheffield United prevailed 1-0 thanks to a goal from David McGoldrick in the 31st minute.

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Villa are nine unbeaten in all competitions, winning seven of those outings, including eye-catching victories over Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal.

Sheffield United have won just two games all season, though both of those came in their last seven outings, beating Wolves and Brentford.

Villa have won their last five Premier League games against promoted sides, since a 3-0 loss at Fulham last season in what proved to be Steven Gerrard’s final game in charge. They last had a longer winning run vs promoted sides in the 1980-81 season, winning all six such matches in what was their last title-winning campaign.

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