Aston Villa travel to Loftus Road on an unbeaten league run hoping that they can turn their many draws into a win. Whilst Alex McLeish’s team are one of only four teams yet to have lost in the league, Villa’s recent loss to Bolton at home in the Carling Cup has only served to increase the pressure on the manager.
Villa will be hoping to take some points from the game though, although QPR are currently installed as favourites after an improved set of results following their signings before the end of the transfer window.
Team News – Aston Villa
Darren Bent is ruled out ahead of the QPR game with an injury, along with fellow players Emile Heskey, and longer term injured player Carlos Cuellar. Jermaine Jenas is rated as 50/50 to be involved.
Alex McLeish has also recalled striker Andreas Weimann from Watford due to Bent’s injury, and Charles N’Zogbia is expected to play after being rested in the Carling Cup game against Bolton.
Team News – Queens Park Rangers
QPR have no new injury concerns heading into Sunday’s match. Kieron Dyer remains out with a foot injury. Jamie Mackie is not yet fit to feature but has returned to full training on Friday for the first time since suffering a double leg break against Blackburn in January.
Neil Warnock will no doubt be looking for a performance from Joey Barton, who has been a talisman for QPR since joining and taking over as captain. In fact, QPR are yet to concede a goal in the four games since Barton’s inclusion in the team.
Manager Quote – Alex McLeish
Regarding the club’s current status – “Is the club in transition? I don’t think there is any doubt about that when you see the players that have left. Randy Lerner is definitely trying to reduce the wages. We’ve been open about that, just like other clubs have. We want to live according to our means so of course there is going to be a transitional period. It’s not going to be the Aston Villa of 1982 (when they won the European Cup) or the giddy heights of a couple of years ago (under Martin O’Neill). We’ve got to be patient. There has got to be patience.”
Manager Quote – Neil Warnock
Regarding Joey Barton’s feud with Karl Henry after QPR’s 3-0 win at Wolves – “The disappointment for me was that all that was talked about was Barton and Henry when the performance was the best team performance I’ve ever had as a team. I thought the individuals in the team were absolutely magnificent but that only got one paragraph, which was disappointing. I explained that to Joey and he understood that. I think it was just a one-off because of the previous that they have had together.”
Statistics – Courtesy of Opta
Aston Villa have kept just one clean sheet in their last 22 Premier League games away from home.
There has never been an away win in the eight Premier League meetings between Villa and QPR with seven wins for the home side and only one draw (at Loftus Road in December 1993).
The last meeting between the two sides came in the 2008-09 Carling Cup, where QPR won 1-0 at Villa Park.
Aston Villa have hit the target with just 31% of their shots, the worst shooting accuracy in the top flight.
Gabriel Agbonlahor has scored in three of his last four Premier League matches.
Aston Villa have drawn more games (4) than any other team in the Premier League this season and in the history of the competition (227).
The Villans are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League matches, their best run since March 2010.
Joey Barton hasn’t seen his team concede a goal when he has been on the pitch this season in four appearances.
QPR have hit a higher proportion of shots from long range than any other Premier League side (56%).
The Hoops have been fouled more often than any other Premier League team this season (71 times).
Betting Corner – Sponsored by Bet365
Looking over the bet365.com betting markets, it’s hard to argue with QPR being installed as the favourites to win Sunday’s Premier League encounter.
After the display the London side put on against Wolves last weekend, followed up by Villa’s demoralising efforts in mid-week, the 13/10 on a home win (Full Time Result betting) may be one to take for the pessimists amongst us Villa fans.
Villa can be backed at 11/5 to get that elusive first away win under Alex McLeish, while the draw is at 9/4.
QPR have kept three Premier League clean sheets after returning to the top flight and are at 13/8 with bet365 to add to that stat on Sunday (Clean Sheet betting).
One of the positives Villa can take so far this term has been the resilience shown when defending and the 12/5 on Villa to keep a Clean Sheet could be in with a decent shout.
These two bets, of course, point to the dreaded 0-0 draw, a result that can be backed at 7/1 on the Correct Score market.
We want goals. And in Darren Bent’s absence, the goal-scoring burden for Villa will, once again, be firmly placed on the shoulders of Gabriel Agbonlahor. The forward is at 15/2 to be the First Goalscorer in Sunday’s game.
QPR’s DJ Campbell is currently 5/1 favourite to score first with Adel Taarabt 7/1.
An outside bet worthy of note is Stylian Petrov to be the First Goalscorer, currently at odds of 25/1.
Value bet of the day – Draw on the Full Time Result market = 9/4
Risky bet of the day (for optimists) – Aston Villa to win by 2 goals (Winning Margin market) = 13/2
Outside bet of the day – Petrov to be First Goalscorer = 25/1
All odds courtesy of bet365.com.
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