Aston Villa v Stoke City Betting Tips: 1 AH-0.25, 2018-12-15

Championship Tips

ASTON VILLA v STOKE CITY
Championship
Saturday 15th December 2018
Kickoff: 1500hrs
Pick: Aston Villa AH-0.25
Bookmaker: Marathonbet
Odds: 1.76 (odds taken at 09:42 GMT, 13 Dec 2018)

Championship Betting at Marathonbet

Aston Villa take on Stoke City at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon as the betting tips continue in the Championship with this highly anticipated clash.

Aston Villa Prediction

Aston Villa will no doubt be glad to return to their Villa Park ground following two away matches on the trot – not that The Villains did badly in those fixtures at all; a resounding 3-0 win at Middlesbrough was followed up with a solid point at West Brom in the west midlands derby, which extended Aston Villa’s unbeaten run in the second tier to six matches.

Villa have had some very tricky fixtures within this sequence as they’ve recorded wins against Bolton Wanderers, Derby County, a bitter second city derby with Birmingham City and an extraordinary west versus east midlands 10-goal thriller against Nottingham Forest.

Goals have never been very far away where Villa are concerned and with the likes of strikers Abraham (11 goals), Kodjia (5 goals) and El Ghazi (4 goals) well supported by midfielders McGinn and Grealish (2 goals apiece), Dean Smith’s side look well set for further points here.

Stoke City Prediction

Stoke City sit just two league positions and two points behind their hosts, Aston Villa, as they make their way to the west midlands on an eight match run without defeat in the Championship. Wins over Bristol City, Derby County and Ipswich Town have kept Gary Rowett’s side in the hunt for a challenge at the play-off pack.

However, within this eight-match sequence there’s also been five draws which may possibly suggest that Stoke lack that cutting edge required to grab those two extra points on occasion. The draw has been particularly prevalent away from home where The Potters have drawn 6 of their 10 away matches to date.

An away record of 2-6-2 13/14 underlines the number of stalemates, although I feel Rowett wouldn’t be too disappointed with a point at Villa Park today. Midfielders Allen (4 goals) and Ince (6 goals) have provided valuable support for striker Afobe (5 goals) but they may lack that bit of quality in midfield compared to Villa.

Aston Villa v Stoke City – Betting Tips Verdict

I can’t rule out the possibility of the draw here, but get Aston Villa onside as far as possible.

Aston Villa v Stoke City – Head to Head