Premier League Match Time: Sunderland Vs Aston Villa

Sunderland will host Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light in a game that's crucial to Aston Villa's top six ambitions. Last season, Villans won at Wearside, scoring two to Sunderland's none, while drawing their home match against the Black Cats, 1-1.

Sunderland have drawn five matches in a row, with the goalless match against Blackburn on Monday being the latest. On the positive side, the Black Cats have staved off defeat for six matches in a row, their best performance since doing it for 17 successive games in 2006-07.

But the draws against Manchester United and Blackburn must surely rankle as Sunderland should have won those games, and that could have taken the squad well up the table. That said, Sunderland have acquitted themselves well against strong opposition in the form of Manchester United, Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. Their only loss came in an away match against West Brom. Converting draws into wins must be manager Steve Bruce's top priority.

Contrastingly, Villa have played in only two goalless draws in their last 20 matches, including the one against Chelsea in match-week eight, the Midlands outfit are formidable rivals having finished sixth in three consecutive seasons.

Particularly after the arrival of Gerard Houllier as manager, Villa have turned things around, as they began the season badly under MacDonald who took temporary charge after O'Neill's shock departure before the season started. Under Houllier, Villa have lost just the solitary match in four, winning two and drawing one.

Ahead of the Villa game, Sunderland have injury worries in the form of Kieran Richards, sidelined with a hamstring problem, David Meyler with a knee injury, and Fraizer Campbell who has sustained an injury to his cruciate ligaments.

Gabriel Agbonlahor with a groin problem, Emile Heskey with a back injury, Luke Young with a hamstring injury and Richard Dunne with an ankle problem are likely to miss the Saturday game for Villa.

If Sunderland hope to get a win against the Villans at Wearside, they must surely look to Frenchman Steed Malbranque to strike form against Houllier's men. Malbranque has consistently been making it to the first eleven, and his best is yet to come.

Sunderland's probable starting eleven on the day should have: Mignolet, Bardsley, Bramble, Turner, Onuoha, Henderson, Elmohamady, Henderson, Wellbeck, Malbranque, Cattermole

Aston Villa are likely to include the following players in their starting eleven: Friedel, Warnock, Clarke, Collins, Beye, A Young, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Downing, Ireland, Carew

Premier League Preview - Liverpool Vs Sunderland

Following their loss to Manchester United, Liverpool play host to tough rivals Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts cannot afford another bad result, as that would seriously dent their hopes of a top four finish this season.

However, Roy Hodgson's squad have not found Sunderland very difficult rivals to handle. In the last matches between the two sides, Liverpool have emerged winners on as many as seven occasions, with two wins for Sunderland, both in their own backyard.

The drawn match was hosted at Anfield, which was also the venue of the last match beteen the sides. Liverpool won that match 3-0.

In their last five Premier League matches, Liverpool have had a solitary win, with two draws and two losses. In these matches, the Merseysiders have scored just four goals while conceding seven.

Two of those goals came against Manchester United last week, in a creditable performance with Liverpool coming from 2-0 down to level the score, before the Red Devils prevailed 3-2, on the back of a third goal from Berbatov.

But Roy Hodgson should be justifiably worried about his squad's 16th place in the Premiership points table, after their fifth match of the season. Ironically, Fulham, the club Hodgson left to join Liverpool are nine places ahead of the Anfield side, on the points table.

Liverpool's midfielders have not been creative enough, this season, and that could be the root of the problem. While Meireles, a recent signing, has given a good account of himself, his midfield partners Lucas and Poulsen have been reluctant to go forward, and have failed to act as a foil to the three-pronged attack line of Gerrard, Cole and Torres.

Cole in particular could be the man to turn things around, compensating for the lack of midfield flair.

Sunderland have had a fairly impressive run, this season, with a win against Manchester City the high point. Last weekend's 1-1 draw against Arsenal made possible by Darren Bent's injury time strike (his third goal of the Premiership season) ensured that Sunderland took a point from a top team.

Nitpickers looking for a weakness could focus on the Black Cats' inability to score goals. They have scored just five in five matches and conceded as many. Sunderland will be looking to the recently signed Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan to rectify that deficiency.

Liverpool's past record against Sunderland should hold them in stead, in what is likely to be crucial to the Merseysiders fortunes, this Premier League season.

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