Official Boothen Roar Match Preview: Aston Villa v Stoke

Last updated : 22 April 2011 By Dan Buxton

Stoke sit 13th in the Premier League and will be up to try and get rid of any lingering relegation fears and hopefully push themselves closer to a top 10 finish. The hosts are three places and two points ahead of the Potters.

Stoke have a good away record this season and have already beaten Newcastle, Cardiff, West Brom, Wolves and Blackburn on their travels, aswell as Bolton at Wembley last weekend. Villa have won seven home league games this season but have also lost four times.

In the 51 matches between these sides at Villa Park, the Potters have won just 7, the hosts 35 and nine have been drawn. Last time the pair clashed at Villa, last season, the game ended in a controversial 1-0 home win. Overall Villa have won 49 times to the Potters 29 victories.

The referee is Chris Foy. This season he took charge of the Potters as they lost 2-1 at home to Spurs, failing to give a late Walters effort that clearly crossed the line, aswell as the 3-0 win away at West Brom, where he failed gave the Potters two penalties. He refereed Aston Villa in their 3-1 home win against Blackburn, the 2-1 away defeat at Birmingham and 3-1 away defeat against Manchester United, all this season.

The Met Office report that it will be sunny, temperatures of 23 degrees celsius, very good visibility and a light 5mph wind.

Prediction: The Potters continue on the euphoria of the victory at Wembley by taking an early lead through Robert Huth. A free kick from Ashley Young equals the scores up before a late solo strike from substitute Ricardo Fuller seals the points