'The more I think about it...' - pundit drops bold Aston Villa vs Burnley prediction

After three wins on the bounce, next up for Aston Villa is Burnley at home on Sunday at 14:00. After a disappointing start to the season, Unai Emery’s side finally appear to looking themselves again.

In the stadium where they won the European Cup in 1982, Villa defeated Feyenoord 2-0 on Thursday to extend their unbeaten run. Second half goals from Emiliano Buendia and John McGinn were enough to give the visitors three points at the De Kuip. Emery can take encouragement from his goal-scoring midfielders as both men were on target against Fulham as well.

Despite Villa’s mini-revival, pundit, Chris Sutton doesn’t believe they’ll beat their weekend opponents. He predicted the results of all ten Premier League matches on his BBC Sport column.

The pundit made his predictions for all ten Premier League weekend matches, but one in particular stood out.

‘The more I think about it...’ Sutton predicts Villa to drop points vs Burnley

Sutton, who played for The Villans towards the end of his career, believes it’ll be honours even at Villa Park on Sunday. He said: “the more I think about it, the more I quite fancy Burnley for a draw here.”

The former Blackburn Rovers Premier League winner added that despite Villa’s recent good run of form, the squad may be ‘stretched’, having played what will be four games in ten days. He also highlighted the importance of Watkins getting back amongst the goals against Fulham last week.

He said: “Villa took a while to get going against Fulham but it was great movement by Ollie Watkins for his goal, and he needed that.” The England International hadn’t scored in eight Premier League appearances before his well-weighted chipped finish against The Cottagers.

Burnley adapt seamlessly to Premier League

Another reason for Sutton’s prediction is simply that Villa’s opponents have had a strong start to life back in the big time. After two successive seasons of the promoted clubs going straight back down to the Championship, it looks as if the mould could be broken this year.

Sunderland are flying, Leeds United are 12th, and although Burnley currently find themselves in 18th, Scott Parker’s men can count themselves a little unfortunate. The Lancashire side conceded last minute penalties against Liverpool and Manchester United in matches where they looked on course for a point.

Despite strong home performances against Sunderland and Nottingham Forest, The Clarets are still to get off the mark away from Turf Moor. In their last match they were hammered 5-1 by Manchester City. Despite this, with the in-form Jaidon Anthony currently firing on all cylinders, a disciplined defensive Villa performance will be required if they want three points.

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