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The two teams are now fairly close in the Premier League, with the Saints just two points and one place above Villa.

Sherwood took remedial action and the introduction of Jack Grealish and Jordan Ayew for Joleon Lescott and Agbonlahor proved a masterstroke.

As for Villa, they’d managed an average of one goal per game in their last five league outings, and have Scott Sinclair and Rudy Gestede to thank for three of those goals. Gestede is in line to make his starting debut against Birmingham and is the 6/4 favourite to score...

A planned march by the English Defence League on Saturday has seen this match brought forward at the request of West Midlands Police and so the TV cameras will get an early shot at Friday Night Football before it becomes a more frequent part of the fixture list next season.

Villa announced the signing in a statement on Friday and the transfer fee could rise from an initial €10m (£7.1m) to €12m(£8.6m) if certain clauses are met.

Aston Villa have today completed the signing of Barcelona wonderkid Adama Traore on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee, after fending off competition from several sides for the 19-year-old star.

Louis van Gaal claimed that De Gea turned down the chance to play for United against Spurs last weekend as he wants to leave Old Trafford for Real Madrid, but reports from the De Gea camp suggest that claim is not accurate.

Richards played well in the club’s opening game of the season against AFC Bournemouth and will be looking to carry that momentum on and into this game.

As Villa only scored 12 goals in Paul Lambert’s past 25 league games in charge, that is something they did too infrequently before Sherwood’s arrival.