Aston Villa will look to get their first home win of the season on Saturday, as they welcome an out of form Sunderland side to Villa Park.
Desperate to kick-start their campaign after two consecutive losses, there's a real hope around the club that the game against Sunderland can do it, and that it presents one of the easier challenges of the season.
Two straight losses spell concern for Villa
Starting with a morale boosting 1-0 away win against newly promoted Bournemouth, as Rudy Gestede's second half-header clinched the three points, two losses have soured the mood.
It has been suggested that after his winner against Bournemouth, Villa have relied on target man Gestede too much, with Tim Sherwood sacrificing the skills of his more creative summer signings to satisfy the needs of 6ft 4" Gestede.
This is a fair statement, as they brought an un-fit Gestede on with over half an hour to go against Manchester United, eventually losing 1-0.
They then started him in the 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace, a game in which Villa looked bereft of ideas going forward, relying on an own goal to help them equalise, before Bakary Sako's late winner gave the points to Palace.
Can they turn things around?
However, confidence was gained from an impressive performance (attacking-wise) in midweek against Notts County in their League Cup tie. A Scott Sinclair hat-trick helped them gain a 5-3 win, that will give a much needed boost to the forward line.
They'll certainly be hoping to take advantage of a dire looking Sunderland side, who have only taken one point from their first three games.
Eight goals conceded, four to Leicester City and three to Norwich, a 1-1 draw against Swansea City last week gave some much needed comfort to those at the Stadium of Light.
Despite that, Villa should be made favourites for the game, as they look to take some momentum into the international break.
Team news
A sickness bug has hit Villa's Bodymoor Heath training ground this week, which Tim Sherwood revealed could keep two players out, although he remained coy as to who they were.
Adama Traore, who recieved a sharp tackle during his goalscoring debut against Notts County, hasn't trained all week, but could make the bench on Saturday.
Jores Okore and Juan Angel Crespo also remain out, meaning there's unlikely to be any changes to the Villa defence.
Sunderland completed the signing of forward Ola Toivonen on Friday, but he's unlikely to be in the squad. Jeremain Lens and Billy Jones are also injury doubts.