rewrite this title Aston Villa vs Newcastle: Preview, predictions and lineups

An in-form Newcastle United are hunting a sixth successive Premier League win when they visit Aston Villa on Saturday evening.

Buoyed by their Carabao Cup final success over Liverpool which brought to an end a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy last month, Newcastle have climbed up to third in the Premier League table and look set to return to the Champions League next season.

Their recent success has arrived in the absence of Eddie Howe on the sidelines, with assistant Jason Tindall stepping up to play an even more prominent role in the dugout. The Magpies have run riot in their two most recent victories, with a 4-1 triumph over Manchester United followed up by a 5-0 beatdown of Crystal Palace in midweek.

Villa have been in similary good domestic form, with four wins on the bounce seeing them open up a six-point gap between themselves in seventh and Bournemouth in eighth. The Villans are currently in a Conference League position, but they’re just a point off Manchester City in the final Champions League spot.

Their European campaign was brought to a thrilling conclusion on Tuesday night, as they roared back from 2-0 down against Paris Saint-Germain to win 3-2 on the night, but Unai Emery’s side were beaten 5-4 on aggregate.

Here is 90min’s guide to an exciting Premier League clash.

Aston Villa vs Newcastle head-to-head record (last five games)

Current form (all competitions)

The Villans have been close to injury-free in 2025, and Emery now has a full complement of players available.

Leon Bailey was back in the matchday squad on Tuesday night, but the Jamaican winger didn’t play a part. He could earn minutes at Villa Park this weekend, but Villa currently boast an array of attacking options that have seemingly usurped him in the pecking order.

There are bound to be a few changes from the emotional midweek duel, with Ollie Watkins, Marco Asensio, and Ian Maatsen among the players who could make Saturday’s XI. Marcus Rashford was preferred to Watkins up top on Tuesday.

Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Newcastle (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Kamara, Tielemans, Onana; Asensio, Watkins, Rogers.

Tindall continued to patrol the Newcastle dugout Howe’s absence on Wednesday, with the Magpies boss recovering from a bout of pneumonia. It remains to be seen whether he’ll make the trip to the West Midlands this weekend.

The visitors have no fresh injury concerns from their midweek rout of Crystal Palace. Newcastle are still without Lewis Hall, Jamaal Lascelles, and Sven Botman due to injury.

Tindall/Howe won’t want to rotate too much, but Anthony Gordon could find himself back in the side as Harvey Barnes’ minutes are managed between now and the end of the season.

Newcastle predicted lineup vs Aston Villa (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon.

Have the Villa Park faithful got anything left after Tuesday night’s draining occasion? Emery’s Villans were superb in the second-half against PSG and, in the end, were unlucky not to take their quarter-final tie to extra-time.

There’s bound to be an emotional dip at the weekend, but Villa’s Champions League exit has placed greater onus on the rest of the Premier League season. They’re in with a shot of claiming a top-five finish and will benefit from having a fully fit squad.

However, Villa are facing a rampant Newcastle team that are steamrolling towards a third-place finish. The Magpies have been brilliant as of late, and this has the makings of an excellent game. Expect the spoils to be shared between two in-form outfits.

Prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 Newcastle

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