Aston Villa hope to continue their title charge when they host Sheffield United at Villa Park in the Premier League. Home is where the heart has been this season year with 15-consecutive home wins at Villa Park.
Villa won on their travels last weekend, beating Brentford in West London on Sunday. Keane Lewis-Potter opened the scoring for the Bees but Alex Moreno scored in the 77th minute, and then five minutes from time Ollie Watkins scored against his former club. The only dampener on the afternoon was that Boubacar Kamara was sent off in the seventh minute of additional time, and that will see him miss most of the festive period.
The busy fixture schedule has meant that there's not been much time for recovery, and several players have picked up knocks and niggles in recent weeks. The Blades have it worse however, and began an investigation to analyse why so many of their players are facing time out on the sidelines.
Friday's match is the last before Christmas, and a victory would put them top of the table albeit for more than 12-hours at least. A top-four spot before Father Christmas comes is already guaranteed, but hopefully Villa can navigate through this busy period, and maintain their push for a Champions League spot.
United are rock bottom of the Premier League, however Chris Wilder has returned to Bramall Lane and oversaw the thrashing of Burnley. Should the men from Yorkshire win, they'd go above Luton Town, but would still be five points adrift of safety.
Villa will have played three games in an eight game period after playing Zrinsjki in the Europa Conference League, and then Brentford on Sunday, and so will fatigue play a part? Here's all the latest team news for the Villains and Sheffield United.
1. Boubacar Kamara - out
Kamara was sent off late on for poor conduct. He will now serve a three-game suspension, and will miss games against Sheffield United, Manchester United and Burnley. He won't return now until potentially January 6 against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. Photo: AFP via Getty Images
2. Boubacar Kamara - out (continued)
Unai Emery said on December 17: "At the end some moments, some behaviour, of us as well, I'm going to manage our behaviour and take control of it. "I will analyse it with our players because it was not normal. "We were a bit excited and we needed control of ourselves. When you are reacting like that, other players and the other opponent is maybe not being in good behaviour like the match needed. "I'm going to manage everything we did that was not good and our mistakes in our behaviour." Photo: Getty Images
3. Pau Torres - doubt
Substituted off with an apparent injury with 10 minutes remaining. Wednesday's press conference should offer more insight. Photo: AFP via Getty Images
4. Pau Torres - doubt (continued)
Dec 17: 'Hopefully, it's a small injury, hopefully. "The big problem today is the red card of Kamara. It is the biggest problem for us." Photo: Arsenal FC via Getty Images