View: Aston Villa can exploit Burnley problems for second time in May
Aston Villa will welcome relegation-threatened Burnley to the Midlands for their second encounter in less than two weeks on Thursday (19 May).
The Villans were victorious at Turf Moor on 7 May thanks to goals from Danny Ings, Emiliano Buendia and Ollie Watkins which stunted the Clarets’ surge away from the drop zone.
They currently lie in the final relegation spot but they know just a point will see them rise back above Leeds United and out of trouble ahead of the final game this coming Sunday.
Villa meanwhile don’t have such pressure on their shoulders but they could do with generating some momentum to take into the off-season and it could be a repeat performance that gets them there.
One area where Steven Gerrard’s side were incredibly dangerous in the reverse fixture in Lancashire was in the attacking midfield where Buendia and Philippe Coutinho were able to operate.
In this instance, the Villa player has way too much space for a Premier League game as the Clarets midfield presses but the defence drops off, allowing plenty of room for the Villans’ creative sparks to strut their stuff
As soon as that gap appeared, another then reared its ugly head as Ings ghosted in between centre-back and full-back to score against his former club.
This is where the Englishman is at his very best and if he is afforded this amount of space again, he will find the net at least once and punish Burnley further.
Watkins was also at his electric best at Turf Moor and moments before Buendia’s goal, he could have had another of his own to shout about.
Playing off the left, he has the license to float inside and give the full-back a dilemma and that is where he can become very effective as he makes late runs to the back post without the right-back necessarily following him.
Once the cross reaches the England international, he has the presence of mind to knock the ball back to Ings rather than try to score himself and eventually, the ball is turned in by Buendia after a Lucas Digne cross.
Gerrard will have been very impressed by his side’s performance in Lancashire and if they can do the same again on Thursday, the same result should transpire.
In other Aston Villa news, this defender is out for the season and could even miss the start of the new campaign after his injury diagnosis came out today.