Aston Villa vs Sunderland: Black Cats out to achieve 12-year first at Villa Park
Aston Villa welcome Sunderland to Villa Park on Sunday as the Wearsiders look to build on their successive Premier League victories.
European football is well and truly on the agenda for both sides heading into Sunday’s clash, with Sunderland having picked up six points from their last two games.
They sit just two points behind Chelsea in sixth, knowing that finishing anywhere in the top eight could be enough to qualify for Europe.
However, a big challenge lies ahead at Villa Park, with the Villans boasting the fourth-best home record in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, the Black Cats are looking to achieve back-to-back-to-back victories in the league for the first time in 12 years.
Regis Le Bris can make yet another Sunderland record his own
Regis Le Bris has done an excellent job with the Black Cats since he joined from Lorient, and he has taken them to a whole new level in the Premier League.
And he could mark yet another milestone with them this weekend if they can seal all three points.
| Sunderland | Le Bris |
| Wins | 37 |
| Draws | 24 |
| Losses | 26 |
| Goals for | 108 |
| Goals against | 96 |
If so, it will be the first time since 2014 that the Black Cats have won three Premier League games in a row, having done so between April and May.
Interestingly enough, this will also be their 148th top-flight encounter, showcasing how much of an achievement it would be.
But that’s not all, with a win also set to take them up to 49 points, which would be their most points in a Premier League campaign since 2000-01 when they accumulated 57.
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Aston Villa vs Sunderland predicted by supercomputer
Given Villa’s home form and Sunderland’s lack of it away from home, it will come as no shock that the Villans are favourites this weekend.
As per Opta, they have a 63.6 per cent chance of taking all three points, while Sunderland have been awarded a 17 per cent chance.
It means that out of all of the Premier League encounters this weekend, the Black Cats are the least likely to come away with a win.
On top of that, the Mackems have only managed one win against Aston Villa since 2011, having faced them on 14 occasions since.
That one win was back in 2016, when Jermaine Defoe scored in a 3-1 victory at the Stadium of Light.
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