Match Day Thread Aston Villa FC v Sunderland AFC – Sunday 19th April 2026 - KO 14:00

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RTB

RTB

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Sunderland travel to Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Last time out Sunderland beat Spurs and Aston Villa drew with Nottingham Forest.
Sunderland beat Tottenham 1-0, the Black Cats took the lead just after the hour when Nordi Mukiele's shot beat keeper Antonin Kinsky via Micky van de Ven's heavy deflection.
Ballard is fit and has trained this week but Mundle, Traore, Moore, Ta Bi and Angulo are unavailable.

Villa drew 1-1 at Forest last weekend and beat Bologna 4-0 in Europe on Thursday.
Martinez and Sancho could return after injury.

Regis le Bris:
"It's the Premier League and we expected a tough opponent in difficult situations. It was a must-win for them and we did well with good energy. It was really important to have our principles and we found a way to score which was still important."
On Sunderland's goals: "We want to improve our style of play, we still want to enforce our ideas and we still have room for improvement in the final third. Top 10 is a good aim and we have to be consistent. The most important is the improvement."
On next season: "We will prepare next season with the way we play now. After three weeks it was a difficult game and I was a bit worried because you never know what can happen. The lads were consistent and for me that is the next layer."

Presser Friday 13:30:
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Unai Emery:
“We are in the quarter-final second leg and we had a good result, but this is a team that, when analysing them, watching their experience and their coach’s career playing in three finals the last three years, the respect is massive.
“They deserve this respect. When they were playing against Roma, maybe we could think that Roma was the favourite, and they beat the favourite.
“They are defending by attacking us; they are attacking by attacking us; and I respect and appreciate their performance a lot. We have a very good team, creating our strong structure individually and collectively, and we are competing, we are performing and we are getting good results.
“Tomorrow, starting the match from the first minute, we must be focused 100%.”

Form:
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Match Appointments:
Referee: SAM BARROTT
Assistant Referee: Timothy Wood
Assistant Referee: Richard West
Fourth Official: Tim Robinson
Video Assistant Referee: Darren England
Additional Video Assistant Referee: Adrian Holmes

Team Lineups:
Sunderland AFC: Roefs, Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Reinildo, Sadiki, Xhaka, Le Fee, Rigg, Talbi, Brobbey.
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Subs: Ellborg, O’Nien, Cirkin, Diarra, Ballard, Geertruida, Jones, Mayenda, Isidor.
Injured: Moore, Mundle, Traore, Ta Bi.

Aston Villa FC: Bizot, Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Barkley, Rogers, Watkins.
Substitutes: Bailey, Abraham, Bogarde, Buendia, Garcia, Konsa, Maatsen, Douglas Luiz, Wright.
Injured: Kamara, Rocha dos Santos, Sancho. Martinez.
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Betting Odds:
Sunderland 11/2 Villa 5/3 Draw 15/4

My two pence:
A great win against Spurs and hopefully we can make it three wins in a row to keep us in the top half and maintain The GAP.
Villa face Bologna in the Europa League quarter final second leg on Thursday with a 3-1 lead from the first leg.

I’m going for a 1-0 away win.
Live Stream:
Sky Sports Main Event

Ha’way the Lads
 
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tougher game than Spurs,

hopefully we can nick it, but would be happy with a draw.

and with them playing tonight doesnt give them much time to recover,

Brobbey will cause them chaos, RIgg to get his first goal too and possibly hume


With talks that both Ballard and Angulo will be on the bench that a massive plus.
 
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RTB said:
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Sunderland travel to Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Last time out Sunderland beat Spurs and Aston Villa drew with Nottingham Forest.
Sunderland beat Tottenham 1-0, the Black Cats took the lead just after the hour when Nordi Mukiele's shot beat keeper Antonin Kinsky via Micky van de Ven's heavy deflection.
Ballard and Angulo could return after injury but Mundle, Traore, Moore and Ta Bi are unavailable.

Villa drew 1-1 at Forest and will face Bologna in Europe on Thursday.
Martinez and Sancho could return after injury.

Regis le Bris:
"It's the Premier League and we expected a tough opponent in difficult situations. It was a must-win for them and we did well with good energy. It was really important to have our principles and we found a way to score which was still important."
On Sunderland's goals: "We want to improve our style of play, we still want to enforce our ideas and we still have room for improvement in the final third. Top 10 is a good aim and we have to be consistent. The most important is the improvement."
On next season: "We will prepare next season with the way we play now. After three weeks it was a difficult game and I was a bit worried because you never know what can happen. The lads were consistent and for me that is the next layer."

Presser Friday 13:30:
<tbc>

Unai Emery:
“We are in the quarter-final second leg and we had a good result, but this is a team that, when analysing them, watching their experience and their coach’s career playing in three finals the last three years, the respect is massive.
“They deserve this respect. When they were playing against Roma, maybe we could think that Roma was the favourite, and they beat the favourite.
“They are defending by attacking us; they are attacking by attacking us; and I respect and appreciate their performance a lot. We have a very good team, creating our strong structure individually and collectively, and we are competing, we are performing and we are getting good results.
“Tomorrow, starting the match from the first minute, we must be focused 100%.”

Form:
You must log in or register to see images

Match Appointments:
Referee: SAM BARROTT
Assistant Referee: Timothy Wood
Assistant Referee: Richard West
Fourth Official: Tim Robinson
Video Assistant Referee: Darren England
Additional Video Assistant Referee: Adrian Holmes

Team Lineups:
Sunderland AFC: Roefs, Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Reinildo, Sadiki, Xhaka, Le Fee, Rigg, Talbi, Brobbey.
You must log in or register to see images

Subs: Ellborg, O’Nien, Cirkin, Diarra, Ballard, Geertruida, Angulo, Mayenda, Isidor.
Injured: Moore, Mundle, Traore, Ta Bi.

Aston Villa FC: Bizot, Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Barkley, Rogers, Watkins.
Substitutes: Bailey, Abraham, Bogarde, Buendia, Garcia, Konsa, Maatsen, Douglas Luiz, Wright.
Injured: Kamara, Rocha dos Santos, Sancho. Martinez.
You must log in or register to see images


Betting Odds:
Sunderland 11/2 Villa 5/3 Draw 15/4

My two pence:
A great win against Spurs and hopefully we can make it three wins in a row to keep us in the top half and maintain The GAP.
Villa face Bologna in the Europa League quarter final second leg on Thursday with a 3-1 lead from the first leg.

I’m going for a 1-0 away win.
Live Stream:
TBC

Ha’way the Lads
Click to expand...
Think Diarra will play.
 
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Always gets you excited for the weekend seeing @RTB match day thread. Expecting a difficult game. Going to watch the Villa game tonight to see how they look. Great to hear that some more of our walking wounded are to return. Our squad is looking the strongest it’s been for a while for the run in and hopefully our push for Europe! Onwards and upwards!
 
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Hopefully we have the advantage with Villa in Europe and the lads being on a two game win streak. 3 wins in last 5 games, you would like to think we can keep that positivity going where we cut Spurs to pieces, but adding a bit extra in the final third to become more lethal.

I think I would start with either Mayenda or Talbi wide, dropping one of Rigg or Diarra. I expect the exact same team however.
 
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Villa a strong team but can be clunky, we're a strong team but struggle to score.
Pretty sure this won't be a good game for fans of exciting end to end high scoring games, but could be one for fans of tactical battles, could boil down to which team can vary those tactics best.

Expecting a struggle-to-watch cancel each other out 0-0, but either team could get the one goal.
 
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First post, how good is it to be going into the last half dozen games with zero pressure on us from the bottom of the table to get a result.

Has been an excellent season with a squad full of likeable players who graft their nuts off for the team allied to no little skill.

Fancy us to get a result at a hard place to go to keep the momentum going 1-1 for me
 
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Ripkowski said:
First post, how good is it to be going into the last half dozen games with zero pressure on us from the bottom of the table to get a result.

Has been an excellent season with a squad full of likeable players who graft their nuts off for the team allied to no little skill.

Fancy us to get a result at a hard place to go to keep the momentum going 1-1 for me
Click to expand...
Welcome mate ...

... I agree with your prediction, no reason we can't pick up a result.

I think we'll really have a go.
 
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Nordi Mukiele has implored his Sunderland teammates to keep producing the fighting spirit that has been the bedrock of their 2025-26 Premier League campaign.

Sunday’s goalscorer against Tottenham Hotspur has played a pivotal role for the Black Cats, who currently sit on 46 points with six games to go in the season.

One victory will mathematically ensure Premier League safety for another campaign which would cap an odds-defying campaign.

“We started the season really well and that’s why we are here today,” said Mukiele. “Everyone knows that the league is really long. We started well and then had some difficult moments which is totally normal. We got injuries, players going to AFCON and that is not easy to manage.

“I think we did that so well though because when we look at the table and see where we are, that means we did well.”

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Mukiele was quick to discuss the impact of captain Granit Xhaka who has also played a standout role throughout the campaign.

The French defender continued: “We work hard and we have a young team with a lot of energy but also players like Granit who have experience of the Premier League. Even if it’s my first season here, with what Granit shows us in training or a game or if we lose or win, it’s a positive what he brings to us.”

Having all but secured their Premier League safety for another season, the players will not be letting complacency creep into performances and continue their unified approach between now and the end of the season. For Mukiele, the possibilities are endless.

The 28-year-old said: “We know we have six games left and we know we have to try and reach something different because we know our target at the beginning of the season is done now. With this team and this quality that we have, we can reach something else. We will fight for this until the end of the season.”

Following on from the 1-0 victory over Spurs, attentions have swiftly turned to Sunday’s game at Villa Park where the Lads take on top-four chasing Aston Villa.
 
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Ripkowski said:
First post, how good is it to be going into the last half dozen games with zero pressure on us from the bottom of the table to get a result.

Has been an excellent season with a squad full of likeable players who graft their nuts off for the team allied to no little skill.

Fancy us to get a result at a hard place to go to keep the momentum going 1-1 for me
Click to expand...
Welcome! It has been a wonderful season and the connection with the players has made it even more enjoyable.
 
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Tremendous MTD again RTB. Thank You!

A few weeks ago, I looked at our run in, and this fixture, along with Everton looked the most daunting. However, Villa's form has dropped off lately and they have a European game tonight. Our away form, in particular, is on the up, with a credible draw at Bournemouth, followed by victories at Leeds and the bin depot.

The reverse fixture was a tight affair, with us battling back with 10 men to force a deserved draw. If we apply ourselves properly, there is no reason why we can't get a positive result. Would love a win, but would happily take a draw to keep the points tally ticking over.

Really wouldn't put anything past our team. They keep tackling challenge after challenge and astound us time and time again. That's why, even though I've plumped for a draw, a win is a distinct possibility.
 
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Ripkowski said:
First post, how good is it to be going into the last half dozen games with zero pressure on us from the bottom of the table to get a result.

Has been an excellent season with a squad full of likeable players who graft their nuts off for the team allied to no little skill.

Fancy us to get a result at a hard place to go to keep the momentum going 1-1 for me
Click to expand...
Welcome to the board marra <cheers>
 
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