The Premier League is a league of some quite intriguing dependencies. Unfortunately one of them are the boring games between these two teams. In the last six meetings between Aston Villa and Stoke there have been only eight goals. Furthermore, 5 of their last 7 matches ended in a draw. Aston Villa only recently managed to get out of the relegation zone and each point is of high importance for them. It is rather unlikely that they will start agressively in this game. The host would rather prefer to play more cautiously in order not to lose the match.
This game is going to be fairly tight and most likely will be decided by a few goals. For the hosts the problems with injured players are quite serious as the team's defense suffers the most. There are three key defensive players, which are unavailable - Richard Dunne, Enda Stevens and Joe Bennett. For the guests the problems with injuries are more related to the attack of the team as Crouch and Owen are doubtful for this match.
In eight of the last 10 games of Aston Villa in the league there have been under 2.5 goals. For Stoke City, six of their last seven league games were with under 2.5 goals scored. Definitely, these are not the most effective in attack teams. When they face each other, there are also a few goals as in 5 of the last 6 matches of Aston Villa vs Stoke City there were under 2.5 goals scored.
The guests enter the match as favorites after three consecutive wins in the league. The hosts, in turn, have begun to show good games and gradually began to move away from the relegation zone. The home match against Stoke is the perfect opportunity for the Lions to add at least one point in their assets, why not even three.