Aston Villa host Swansea looking to win their third straight Premier League win for the first time in five years. Swansea want to get back to winning ways after no win in three games.
Not since Martin O’Neill in April 2010 have Villa won three Premier League games in a row, and with the narrow win over West Brom and the emphatic 4-0 drubbing of Sunderland last week, Villa could break that long standing record. Also with an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on the horizon, Sherwood will be keen to keep up the strong form.
That stunning victory saw the long-awaited return to form of Christian Benteke and Gabby Agbonlahor, with both scoring a brace at the Stadium of Light, the game which cost Black Cats manager Gus Poyet his job. New Villa manager Tim Sherwood has been the catalyst for their rejuvenated survival bid, as since his appointment, the Villains look like they have a real chance of remaining in the top flight.
Swansea however are chasing a first win in three, after narrow defeats to Liverpool and Tottenham in recent weeks, Garry Monk will want his side to be winning again as soon as possible. Especially as the Swans manager set the team the target of beating their record points haul in the Premier League of 47, set in the 2011-12 season under Brendan Rodgers.
Also Swansea have a good record against Villa, with only one loss in the last seven meetings between the two sides.
In his pre-match conference ahead of the game at Villa Park, Sherwood was keen to mention that money isn’t always a factor in a good Premier League side:
"I don't think it's always about spending money and throwing money at it. I think it's also about improving the players you have within the squad. A lot of these guys are only young. Their development hasn't finished. They need to keep developing, they need guidance and some of them need to be worked at individually to improve their game. If you improve them 10% and put them together collectively they will be a better side.”
Garry Monk pointed out how well Tim Sherwood has done since taking the helm at Villa Park: “He has gone in there and lifted the confidence," he said. "They have very good players there but they weren't playing to full potential before.”
He also added about their latest target, with European competition looking unlikely for the ninth placed Swans: “"But we've got our own targets and what we want to achieve in the remaining games this season. The next target is to beat 47 points, Saturday is another challenge and we want to get more points on the board.”
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Villa have a host of injuries at the moment as no less than seven players still not match fit. These include captain Ron Vlaar, Philippe Senderos and Kieran Richardson (all calf), Nathan Baker (knee) and Aly Cissokho (groin). Libor Kozak (leg) is back training after breaking his leg but isn’t anywhere near being match fit. Jack Grealish and Alan Hutton also return after being suspended.
For Swansea Federico Fernandez returns after travelling back to Argentina for ‘personal reasons’, and is back training and will most likely start for the Swans at Villa Park. Apart from this Swansea have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the trip to the Midlands.
With Villa having scored more goals in the last two games (6) than in the previous 13 (5), Tim Sherwood’s men will be buzzing and on a high as they host a Swansea side low on confidence and needing to get back to winning ways.