Dean Smith’s Aston Villa are currently in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.
BBC Sport pundit Mark Lawrenson has shared his opinion on “the main problem” impacting on Aston Villa this term ahead of their Premier League trip to Sheffield United this weekend (BBC Sport).
Dean Smith’s side and Chris Wilder’s charges both impressed in the Championship last season and were promoted to the top flight, but 16 games into the 2019-20 campaign, one side has definitely had the better of things so far.
While the Villa Park outfit is currently 17th in the Premier League table, only out of the bottom three on goal difference, the Blades are eighth in the standings, just two points behind fifth-placed Manchester United.
Villa – who will also be missing Tyrone Mings due to a hamstring injury – go to Bramall Lane on the back of a 4-1 hammering by Leicester City, while Sheff Utd bounced back from their defeat to Newcastle United with a 2-1 win at fellow newcomers Norwich City.
“Form-wise, Aston Villa are quite up and down and can be quite open, but their main problem is that they don’t seem to be able to get anything out of games unless they play well,” Lawrenson wrote on BBC Sport.
“Villa have got some very good players so there is no way they are going to sink like a stone, but it seems they are going to be hovering around the relegation places for the foreseeable future.”
After this weekend, Villa will then contest the League Cup quarter-final against what is likely to be a Liverpool second string, after which Smith and co will lock horns with Southampton in the Premier League, both games taking place at Villa Park.
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