Premier League high-flyers Aston Villa will endeavour to climb to the top of the table when they welcome basement club Sheffield United to Villa Park on Friday night.
The two teams meet for the first time since March 2021 when the Blades claimed a slender 1-0 victory at Bramall Lane under current boss Chris Wilder.
The Lions have won five and drawn one of their last six top-flight games, winning each of their last three by a one-goal margin, including last weekend's hard-fought 2-1 victory at Brentford in which Alex Moreno and ex-Bees forward Ollie Watkins scored in the final 13 minutes, capitalising on Ben Mee's earlier dismissal, to snatch three valuable points.
Aston Villa will welcome a return to home soil where they have won a club record 15 Premier League games in a row, scoring 39 goals and keeping eight clean sheets in the process – only Liverpool (24 between 2019 and 2020), Manchester City (20 between 2011 and 2012) and Manchester United (19 between 2010 and 2011) have ever boasted a longer winning home run in Premier League history.
The last two matches at Villa Park have seen Emery and co register impressive 1-0 triumphs over reigning champions Man City and last season's runners-up Arsenal, and the Lions will be confident of putting Sheffield United to the sword on Friday as they have won their last five meetings with promoted sides.
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