HomeTeams - PLAston VillaAston Villa Vs Cardiff Preview | Team News, Stats and Key Players

Aston Villa Vs Cardiff Preview | Team News, Stats and Key Players

Aston Villa will once again try to improve their Premier League form this weekend but they will have to beat a buoyant Cardiff to do it. The Bluebirds are coming into this game on the back of a win against fierce rivals Swansea last weekend, and this could help them on their trip to Villa Park on Saturday.

Paul Lambert will likely be looking at managing his side through another relegation battle this season so he will know how beneficial a win on Saturday can be when the season ends. Malky McKay meanwhile will be hoping to lead Cardiff to a win over Villa in order to hold a good hand in his power struggle with Vincent Tan.

Aston Villa Vs Cardiff Preview

Team News

Andreas Weimann looks set to miss this game after he had to come off the pitch with a hamstring injury in the game against West Ham last week. While this is a big setback for Villa, Paul Lambert will at least have Fabian Delph available once again after recovering from the illness that ruled him out last week.

Cardiff should have no such problems but Malky McKay will confirm this either way when he gives his pre-match press conference.

Statistics

In their last five league games, Aston Villa have scored just three goals.

These three goals all came in the game against Manchester City on September 28th. They have not scored in the league since then.

Cardiff have won just two more points than Aston Villa in their last five games.

Cardiff have scored four goals in their last five games, one more than Aston Villa.

Key Players

Vlaar defendingAston Villa – Ron Vlaar

It may sound like an odd choice but with their recent form, having a good defence is a priority for Villa. Vlaar has started all 10 of Villa’s league games this season, and is the only player aside from Brad Guzan to play all 900 minutes of football. He has attempted 40 ground 50-50 challenges and won 78% of them. He has also won 67% of his 18 aerial duels. This amounts to him winning a ground duel every 22.5 minutes and aerial duels every 50 minutes on average. When it comes to tackling, he has attempted 21 and has a great success rate of 90.48%. He has also made 21 interceptions and won possession of the ball 34 times when it has been in Villa’s defensive third. He will undoubtedly be called upon to perform this well when his side face Cardiff on Saturday.

Medel passingCardiff – Gary Medel

Gary Medel has been one of Cardiff’s standout players so far this season. He has performed very well in the defensive midfielder role and while his defensive statistics may not be as good as Vlaar’s, it is his passing that sets him apart. Medel has completed 419 passes from 465 attempts, giving him an accuracy of 90%. 270 of these passes have been in the defensive third, but 149 have been in the attacking zone of the pitch, giving him an accuracy of 83% in this area. Even in the final third, Medel has completed 42 of 60 passes, giving him an accuracy of 70%. The Chilean clearly has an influence on the game no matter where on the pitch he is, and he could be the difference between winning and losing for Cardiff on Saturday.

Prediction

Neither team has been in great goal scoring form lately. This fixture is a big opportunity for both teams to push forward in their season and despite it being a home game for Aston Villa, I think Cardiff’s win over Swansea will give them the confidence they need to get three points. I think it will finish 1-0 to Cardiff.

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