At A Glance
Much more than local derby bragging rights are at stake when midlands rivals Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion meet in the Premier League at Villa Park on Sunday.
The Baggies are fighting to ensure their top-flight return lasts more than a single season, while hosts Villa know a top-10 finish is there for the taking.
Both sides head into the game on the back of midweek defeats, with Dean Smith’s Villans going down 2-1 to Manchester City and Sam Allardyce’s team losing 3-0 to Leicester City.
Villa are 20 points above the Baggies, who are in relegation trouble with just six games to play.
West Brom are nine points adrift of safety while Villa are in 11th place.
Standout Stats
Aston Villa are looking to secure their first league double over West Brom since the 2008/09 season, when the Baggies were relegated to the Championship.
West Brom have won their last two away league games against Aston Villa (excluding Play-Offs), as many as they had in their previous 21 such visits to Villa Park (D6 L13). Only once have they won three league games in a row away to their midlands rivals, doing so between 1899 and 1902.
West Bromwich Albion have had a player sent off in each of their last three meetings with Aston Villa in all competitions, with Jake Livermore seeing red after 37 minutes in the reverse fixture.
Aston Villa have won their last three Premier League games against promoted sides, starting with a 3-0 victory against West Brom back in December. They last won four consecutive such games in the top-flight in the 2003/04 campaign (5 in a row).
Aston Villa have won five of their eight Sunday matches in the Premier League this season (L3), as many as they had in their previous 44 top-flight games played on Sunday (D10 L29).
West Brom have won just one of their last 17 Premier League matches played on Sunday (D5 L11), a 1-0 victory at Manchester United in April 2018. The Baggies have drawn three and lost six of their nine Sunday games this season.
West Brom manager Sam Allardyce has won nine of his 24 Premier League games against Aston Villa, only beating Newcastle (13) and Tottenham (11) more often in the competition.
Allardyce has won Premier League games against Aston Villa while in charge of Bolton, Blackburn, West Ham and Sunderland. He could become the second manager to beat the Villans with five different teams in the competition, after Roy Hodgson.
Aston Villa’s Anwar El Ghazi has scored more league goals against West Brom than he has versus any other side since moving to England, though all four of his strikes against them have come at The Hawthorns.
Seven of Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins’ 12 Premier League goals this season have come in games played on Sundays. The only player to score more Sunday goals in a single Premier League campaign for the Villans is Juan Pablo Ángel (9 in 2003/04).
The Last Meeting
Anwar El Ghazi took centre stage as Aston Villa swept West Bromwich Albion aside 3-0 at The Hawthorns in December.
The Dutch winger scored after five minutes and put the game to bed with a late penalty.
In between, Bertrand Traore produced one of the coolest finishes you’re likely to see to make it 2-0.
Team News
Dean Smith confirmed that Trezeguet, Jack Grealish and Morgan Sanson are all out injured, while Matty Cash serves a one-match suspension following his dismissal against Manchester City in midweek.
Better news came in the shape of Wesley, who is being assessed for inclusion in the squad after a 16-month absence.
For the Baggies, Branslav Ivanovic is their only injury absentee.
The Boss
“Games are running out and they need to win them, so we know they’ll be coming to Aston Villa looking for a win that can help them survive. I thought they started the game quite well [against Leicester on Thursday night], but once the first goal went in, Leicester were very good and scored some good goals. They’re fighting for every point they can get; but so are we. We know it’s a derby. We’re looking forward to the game and we want to get back to winning ways ourselves.”
Dean Smith
