Aston Villa v Stoke
PREMIER LEAGUEVenue: Villa Park Date: Sunday, 1 March Kick-off: 1500 GMT
Striker John Carew should be included in the Aston Villa line-up after missing the Uefa Cup defeat against CSKA Moscow with a back injury.
Martin Laursen and Wilfred Bouma remain on the sidelines.
Stoke duo Rory Delap and Matthew Etherington are still suspended but manager Tony Pulis hopes striker Ricardo Fuller will play some part.
Fuller has been out with a shoulder problem and will be assessed before Pulis names his team.
Aston Villa (from): Friedel, Guzan, Gardner, Davies, Knight, L Young, Shorey, Milner, Petrov, Barry, Sidwell, A Young, Osbourne, Salifou, Agbonlahor, Heskey, Carew, Delfouneso, Reo-Coker, Harewood.
Stoke (from): Sorensen, Wilkinson, Abdoulaye Faye, Higginbotham, Lawrence, Tonge, Diao, Amdy Faye, Pugh, Sidibe, Cresswell, Beattie, Simonsen, Whelan, Kitson, Camara, Sonko, Fuller.
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill: "I don't feel there is any more pressure because we have been knocked out of the Uefa Cup.
"Is there more pressure on us for Sunday after being knocked out? Not for the players.
"The one thing you want to do is take pressure away, so I take it on myself.
"But do I feel now because we've rested players we'll automatically beat Stoke? Absolutely not."
Stoke manager Tony Pulis: "They rested eight players for their Uefa Cup game on Thursday.
"But it means that they will be coming at us with all guns blazing now on Sunday, I have no doubts about that.
"Finishing in the top four for them is all important and they will have all their big name players back for our game."
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BIG-MATCH FACTS
Aston Villa face relegation-threatened Stoke in a Midlands derby, needing all three points to maintain their challenge for a Champions League qualifying berth.
Stoke won their first ever home Premier League game and first top-flight match at the Britannia Stadium, 3-2, in the reverse fixture with Villa in August. That is one of only six league wins so far this season for the Potters, and one of just three away league defeats for the Villa.
Going into the weekend, this match is fourth top against fourth bottom; the joint second most-winning club in the Premier League against one of the second least-winning clubs.
Villa saw their 13-match unbeaten league run ended by Chelsea last weekend, and will not want to suffer their first back-to-back defeats in 15 top-flight outings on the 57th birthday of manager Martin O'Neill.
The Potters have lost their last five league games on the road and have the weakest away record in the Premier League. Villa have the strongest away record in the division. Conversely Stoke have won six games and gained 22 points at the Britannia, while Villa have won five and totted up just 21 points at Villa Park.
Distance between the clubs: 44 miles (71 kilometres)
CLUB FORM
ASTON VILLA
Club stats
Going into this round of matches: 4th 51 points
Best & Worst categories in 2008-09 Premier League(all statistics are ahead of this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures)
1. Won nine and drawn four of the 13 Premier League matches before losing 0-1, home to Chelsea, last Saturday.
2. Not lost successive top-flight games since beaten by Newcastle away and Middlesbrough at home on 3 and 9 November respectively.
3. Completed 15 league games since a loss by more than a single goal; 2-0, against Newcastle at St James' Park nearly four moths ago.
4. The current tally of 51 points after 26 games is their best ever return in the Premier League, seven points up on last season, and their highest points tally to this equivalent stage since the 1989-90 top-flight season, when they finished runners-up to Liverpool.
5. Won seven of the last eight Premier League Midlands derbies.
6. Lost one of the last 12 Midlands derbies; 3-2, away to Stoke on 23 August, this season.
7. Won only two of the last eight home league games, and failed to score in their last two; goalless against Wigan, and 0-1 to Chelsea.
8. The 11 league fixtures remaining after this, include away trips to Liverpool and Manchester United.
Fixtures
STOKE CITY
Club stats
Going into this round of matches: 17th 25 points
Best & Worst categories in 2008-09 Premier League(all statistics are ahead of this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures)
1. Victory would give them their first top-flight double since Brighton were beaten home and away in the 1982-83 season.
2. Won only one of 12 Premier League games; 1-0 against Manchester City on 31 January.
3. Failed to score in five of their last 10 league outings.
4. Won both their previous Premier League Midlands derbies; home to Aston Villa and West Brom.
5. Only points on the road have come from goalless stalemates with Liverpool and Wigan, and a 2-2 draw against Newcastle.
6. Picked up 19 more points at home than away, and not won in 34 top-flight matches on the road since beating Luton 0-1 on 7 May 1984.
7. Still to play all three of the clubs beneath them in the table in their 11 remaining fixtures; home to Middlesbrough and Blackburn and away to West Brom.
Fixtures
KEY PLAYER NOTES
ASTON VILLA
Squad profiles
Gabriel AGBONLAHOR is the club's top Premier League scorer with 10 goals.
Brad FRIEDEL has played every minute of every one of Aston Villa's Premier League matches this season.
Steve SIDWELL has scored the fastest goal in this season's Premier League; netting after only 31 seconds in Villa's 2-3 win over Everton at Goodison Park on 7 December.
If selected:-
FRIEDEL will be extending his record breaking run to 179 consecutive Premier League appearances.
James MILNER will be making his 200th career league appearance (Leeds, Swindon, Newcastle and Aston Villa).
STOKE CITY
Squad profiles
Ricardo FULLER is the club's top Premier League scorer with six goals.
James BEATTIE has scored four goals in his last four Premier League appearances for Stoke.
If selected:-
Thomas SORENSEN will be keeping goal against his former club. The six foot four inch Denmark international keeper made 158 appearances (139 in the league) for Aston Villa, between August 2003 and last summer's close season.
If on the field from the outset:-
Dave KITSON will be making his 250th club career start (Cambridge United, Reading and Stoke).
Suspended:-
Matthew ETHERINGTON (two matches)Rory DELAP (one match)
HEAD TO HEAD
Stoke are paying their first visit to Villa Park for a competitive match since 26 March 1988, when they won 0-1 in the old Second Division.
Villa were victorious in the most recent top-flight meeting with the Potters in the West Midlands, on 27 March 1985. Stoke defender George Berry put through his own goal, and Didier Six scored in a 2-0 victory. Villa ended that season 10th in the Canon First Division; Stoke bottom and were relegated.
The Potters have not won a top-flight match at Villa Park in 44 years, since their 0-1 victory on 13 November 1965.
Home and awayLeague (inc PL): Villa 44 wins, Stoke 25, Draws 20Prem: Villa 0 wins, Stoke 1, Draws 0
at Villa onlyLeague (inc PL): Villa 31 wins, Stoke 6, Draws 7Prem: Villa 0 wins, Stoke 0, Draws 0
THIS SEASON'S REVERSE FIXTURE
Stoke City 3-2 Aston Villa23 August 2008 - Ref: Mark Halsey Stoke scorers: Lawrence 30 pen, Fuller 80, Sidibe 90Villa scorers: Carew 63, Laursen 84
REFEREE
Howard Webb (Yorkshire)
