Premier League | Stakes are high for Villa-Burnley encounter

This evening's Premier League match between Aston Villa and Burnley will certainly be one for the books. The two teams will be squaring off on today, following impressive victories recorded by both teams last weekend.

Villa smashed the Wolverhampton Wanderers with a 1-0 win and Burnley did the same against Arsenal just 24 hours later.

Villa appear to be an all-or-nothing side so far, as they have won six and lost four of their opening 10 Premier League fixtures. That being said, they have a rather favourable run of fixtures against bottom-half sides moving into the middle of December. There are hopes that the Villa squad can thrust their fists into the air before a challenging set of 2021 matches.

Burnley find themselves in the 17th spot, a return of eight points from no les than five matches. A lack of signings have coincided with rather poor performances, but Burnley boss Sean Dyche has done his utmost to lift the Clarets out of the relegation zone. Their win at the Emirates Stadium stands out, though the standard was set when they achieved a draw at 0-0 at Brighton just last month.

The team showed strong defence against Crystal Palace and Everton and their clean sheet in North London was their third, out of five games. Dyche is confident that his team can match and triumph over their hosts for this upcoming match.

In terms of Villa, they had to ride their luck to record their fourth away win in five attempts. This granted them with another clean sheet, which was needed to help them benefit from a dash of luck, on more familiar territory.

They lost their last three games at home, and had nine goals conceded against none other than Southampton, Brighton and Hove Albion and Leeds United. Manager Dean Smith undoubtedly feels that the club has a window of opportunity to get their name back out there.

It is important to note that Villa will be playing this evening's match without Douglas Luiz, after the midfielder was dismissed against the Wolves. Matty Cash is serving a one-match suspension and Conor Hourihane and Ahmed Elmohamady are expected to be brought into the starting line up.

What’s more, Anwar El Ghazi may be replaced by Bertrand Traore but Nakamba may remain with the replacements. After all, Jacob Ramsay impressed on his first league start.

Dyche, on the other hand, is not expected to make any changes on his side, after their victory over Arsenal. If a change is made, however, it will most likely involve Barnes getting the nod over Rodriguez.

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