Stoke vs Aston Villa – Match Preview

Stoke got their first win in 4 matches a fortnight ago away at Bournemouth to see them arrest a slide down the table which currently sees them sitting 10th in the Premier League. Record signing Giannelli Imbula paying off a small part of his transfer fee with the opening goal and one that set Mark Hughes’ side well on their way to victory at The Vitality Stadium.

Stoke are in that middle throng of teams between 8th and 12th who seem to be interchanging each week from Liverpool down to Chelsea, if they can’t deliver the hope of a Europa League place then Mark Hughes will certainly want to see his side finish in the top half of the table.

If that January slump hadn’t taken place then they could even be as high as 5th in the table right now but with everyone taking points off each other right now, you could make that argument for half a dozen teams. If Everton are 8th and underachieving then Stoke in 10th are doing just fine.

One team that isn’t doing fine is Aston Villa. A Valentines Day Massacre at the hands of Liverpool Two Weeks ago has surely consigned them to relegation. There’s no way they can come back from an abject performance such as a 6-0 defeat at home.

Many fans walked out after 65 Minutes with that seemingly being the straw that finally broke the camel’s back. With the support of the fans all but gone it’s now just a case of when and not if the Birmingham based side are relegated.

Will Remi Garde last the season, I don’t think he was the right man for the job in the first place and I don’t think he’ll be the right man to get them out of The Championship. When a team gets relegated there is usually a fire sale but who really are the assets at Villa Park right now.

While it’s mathematically possible then its not yet impossible but Villa are going to have their work cut out against this Stoke side and I can’t see them getting anything out of Today’s clash. A Home win for me as Stoke move up the table and just on the fringes of a possible Europa League spot.