ASTON VILLA v NEWCASTLE – Pick: 1 AH0 – 23 August 2014

Villa could edge Magpies at Villa Park

Premier League Tips

Football – England – Premier League

Saturday 23rd August 2014 – Kickoff: 1245hrs

Saturday’s early kick-off features two teams that struggled throughout last season in the Premiership as well as supporter unrest during their respective campaigns.

Aston Villa manager, Paul Lambert, would therefore have been mightily relieved when his Villa side grabbed an immediate three points away at Stoke City last Saturday in the season opener with a 1-0 win.

This would have been a much-needed tonic for a manager that was under fire for pretty much the whole of last season, and Lambert and his squad will be looking for a much better campaign this time around as they avoided relegation by just five points last term.

Villa have acquired some good signings at minimal cost with the likes of Joe Cole, Phillip Senderos, Darren Bent and Kieran Richardson all joining for less than 1 million and who all possess decent Premiership experience.

 

Onto Newcastle United and they suffered a first day defeat at home to Premiership title holders Manchester City 0-2 at St James’ Park. However, Newcastle weren’t without a few chances to grab at least an equaliser with new signing and forward Riviere causing problems in both halves.

A harsh critic would point out though that Newcastle, for all their huffing and puffing, failed to score on home turf, so a trip away to Villa Park should cause further problems particularly when you consider the additions to Aston Villa’s attacking department for this season.

Newcastle are missing a Kevin Nolan like midfielder in my opinion which is ironic as he used to play for The Magpies but the new additions such as Cabella, de Jong and Perez will take time to bed down.

 

Aston Villa are a few months ahead of Newcastle United in terms of squad balance and familiarity, and this makes a big difference in the Premier League. I’ll back the hosts with the well-priced round ball to avoid defeat here this afternoon in a match they could sneak perhaps 1-0.

Pick: Aston Villa AH0 @ 1.81 Pinnacle