Stoke vs Aston Villa Betting Tips & Predictions

Stoke have had a pretty bad start to 2016 in all honesty. They had enjoyed some good form towards the end of last year but they come into this match having lost four of their last six games in all competitions. They were also cruelly knocked out of the Capital One Cup Semi Finals on penalties after an impressive 1-0 victory at Anfield. To be fair to Stoke, their defeats have come against decent sides, with Leicester, Manchester United, and Everton all beating them 3-0 as their defensive lineup struggled to cope.

Aston Villa aren’t a decent side, and I don’t expect the Stoke back line to struggle on Saturday. The visitors did threaten a miraculous resurgence back in January when they secured their first Premier League win since the opening day of the season and embarked on a five match unbeaten streak in all competitions. This injected a small amount of hope into the Villa supporters, but they seem to have collapsed again. A 6-0 hammering at home to Liverpool last weekend saw them sink to new lows, and they have now lost three of their last four games in all competitions and lie eight points from safety at the bottom of the Premier League.

Reasons for Betting Tips

Stoke may have been in poor form recently, but their struggles have come against much better teams than Aston Villa. They have also had to play five of their last six games away from home, and at the Britannia they have won six of their last ten outings. A 3-1 win away to Bournemouth in their last outing will have boosted their confidence after their poor run too, and I don’t think their defence will have any troubles against an Aston Villa side who have scored just 20 Premier League goals this season.

Aston Villa haven’t won away from home since the opening day of the season, and ten of their 14 matches since then have resulted in them travelling back to the Midlands empty handed. This makes a Stoke win very likely in my book, and odds of 4/6 seem to offer a good amount of value. I’m not expecting the Villa attack to have much luck either, so a comfortable 2-0 correct score prediction looks good to me.

Recent Form

All competitions; most recent first.

Stoke: WLLLWLD

Aston Villa: LWLLDWD

Head to Head

Stoke made the most of their opponents’ horrendous form earlier in the season when they beat them 1-0 away from home. Prior to this Stoke had won three of their last four encounters with Aston Villa, with Villa taking one victory back in 2014.

Statistics

Aston Villa have lost 69% of their away games in the Premier League this season and have failed to score in 42% of their matches.

Team News

Stoke – Shay Given, Charlie Adam, and Marc Wilson are set to miss out on Saturday, with Glen Johnson, Ryan Shawcross, and Marc Muniesa also expected to be sidelined.

Aston Villa – Gabby Agbonlahor and Rudy Gestede are hoping to have recovered in time to make the grade. Jack Grealish, Libor Kozak, Adama Traore, Jordan Amavi, and Carlos Sanchez are all still injured though. Jordan Ayew will also miss out through suspension.

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