At the other end of the pitch, Sandro Tonali has increased his attacking output in recent weeks, trying his luck 17 times across his last nine domestic starts, cashing this bet in all of those. The Italian midfielder had three shots in the previous meeting between the sides and averages 1.42 shots per 90 in head-to-heads with the Villans.

Unai Emery’s Villa side have been beaten in both of their last two games at Villa Park and are conceding 11 shots per game on home soil across domestic competitions. Although they had a man sent off, they allowed Newcastle 16 efforts at goal on the opening day of the Premier League season, and so we could see an end-to-end affair where Tonali is likely to get involved. 

The Magpies broke out of their winless rut in midweek, as they beat Tottenham 2-1 in London. However, Newcastle’s home form has been poor recently, and they suffered a 2-0 loss against Aston Villa at St James’ Park recently. Emiliano Buendia opened the scoring after 19 minutes, before Ollie Watkins secured the spoils for his side in the 88th minute. Newcastle had plenty of chances, but were unable to find the back of the net, largely due to Emiliano Martinez. The Argentine keeper racked up six saves in total.

Unai Emery had the upper hand over Eddie Howe this season, unbeaten in both league meetings. Both times, Villa were able to keep a clean sheet despite being up against it - the sides also met in matchday one of the Premier League, and Aston Villa held on to a 0-0 draw despite finishing the game with 10 men.

There were a total of 20 corners across the two league meetings between the sides this season, with exactly nine at Villa Park when the sides last met. This is a clash between two strong attacking units, and chances are likely to be available at both ends of the field once again. 

Aston Villa are averaging 5.23 corners per game across all competitions this season, rising to 5.7 when playing at Villa Park. They racked up 12 corners in their last home outing against Brentford, and they usually play with a lot more attacking intent in front of a home crowd. 

It is a similar story for Newcastle, who tend to take things up a gear when they play on Tyneside, but the Magpies are still averaging 5.4 corners per game on their travels, which is also impressive.

After taking the lead through Emiliano Buendia when the sides last met, Villa adopted quite a passive approach and let Newcastle dominate possession. The Magpies registered 61% of the ball. However, the Villans were effective on the counter, and managed 14 shots overall, of which eight hit the target. Morgan Rogers accounted for two of those efforts, with both forcing a save from Nick Pope. The Englishman was able to pick up some promising positions at St James’ Park, and he once again became a target here. 

The 23-year-old bagged his 10th goal of the season against Bournemouth last weekend, and he has landed this selection in each of his last nine appearances. He has been a standout performer for Aston Villa this season and should feature in a more natural advanced midfield role, with Ollie Watkins returning from injury. Rogers is averaging 2.21 shots per 90 this season in the Premier League, with 42% of those efforts hitting the target. 

It was a much-needed three points for Newcastle in midweek, but it wasn’t all positive news. Bruno Guimaraes had to be replaced in the final few minutes with a suspected hamstring injury. The Brazilian recently returned from injury, but has emerged as a fresh doubt for this weekend. 

With Lewis Miley and Joelinton also out, Sandro Tonali looks set for a recall in the middle of the park. He is averaging just 1.09 fouls per 90 this season, which is nothing particularly special, but the main allure here is his matchup against Aston Villa. 

Unai Emery’s men have drawn the most infringements of any Premier League side this season, averaging 12.76 fouls drawn per game. Morgan Rogers is a key reason for that, as he is averaging 1.32 fouls drawn per 90 - he should be directly up against Tonali in midfield, which is a matchup to keep an eye on.