Preview: Aston Villa vs Burnley - prediction, team news, lineups

Aston Villa will be aiming to make it four straight wins in all competitions when they continue their 2025-26 Premier League campaign with a home fixture against Burnley on Sunday afternoon.

Unai Emery's side have made a lacklustre start to the season, sitting down in 16th spot in the Premier League table, while the Clarets are 18th, having only picked up four points from their first six matches of the campaign.

Match preview

Villa only collected three points from their first five matches of the 2025-26 Premier League campaign, drawing with Newcastle United, Everton and Sunderland, in addition to losing to Brentford and Crystal Palace, during a poor start.

Emery's team were also beaten by Brentford in the EFL Cup last month, but they have since managed to post three straight wins, including a 3-1 success over Fulham in the Premier League last weekend.

Villa beat Feyenoord 2-0 in the league phase of the Europa League on Thursday night, meanwhile, to make it back-to-back victories in the competition, and Emery does appear to have come out of the other side following a difficult run.

That said, the home side are currently down in 16th spot in the Premier League table, and one win from their opening six league games of the campaign has to go down as a major disappointment considering their quality.

Villa have won three of their last four matches against Burnley, remaining unbeaten in the process, including a 3-2 home success when the two teams last locked horns in December 2023.

Burnley, meanwhile, were on the end of a 5-1 loss to Manchester City last weekend, and the promoted outfit are currently on a run of four defeats from their last five matches in all competitions.

Scott Parker's side have a record of one win, one draw and four losses from their six league matches this season, which has left them down in 18th spot in the table, level on points with 19th-placed West Ham United.

Burnley have the joint-second worst defensive record at this stage of the season, conceding 13, and they have not been victorious since making it back-to-back wins with a success over Derby County in the EFL Cup at the end of August.

Since then, the Clarets have lost to Manchester United, Liverpool, Cardiff City and Man City, but they did manage to hold Nottingham Forest to a draw at Turf Moor on September 20.

Burnley's last win over Villa was a 3-2 success at home in January 2021, and they have not managed to triumph at Villa Park since a 1-0 victory during the 2014-15 Premier League campaign.

Aston Villa Premier League form:

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Aston Villa form (all competitions):

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Burnley Premier League form:

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Team News

Villa will again be without the services of Ross Barkley, Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans, while Tyrone Mings is also set to miss out due to an ankle problem.

Emiliano Martinez has undergone a scan after picking up an injury during the warm-up ahead of the clash with Feyenoord, so Marco Bizot is expected to feature between the sticks this weekend.

Emiliano Buendia has now scored in back-to-back matches and could feature in the number 10 spot on Sunday, while Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Evann Guessand are also in line to start.

As for Burnley, Zeki Amdouni (knee), Jordan Beyer (hamstring) and Connor Roberts (knee) remain unavailable for selection, but the visitors have not reported any fresh concerns.

Jaidon Anthony has been in excellent form this season, finding the back of the net on four occasions in six appearances, and there will again be a spot in the attacking unit for the 25-year-old.

Lyle Foster, who has one goal to his name this term, is expected to again feature through the middle, while Josh Cullen will captain the visitors from the middle of their midfield.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Bizot; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; McGinn, Kamara; Guessand, Buendia, Rogers; Watkins

Burnley possible starting lineup:

Dubravka; Walker, Esteve, Ekdal, Laurent, Hartman; Larsen, Florentino, Cullen, Anthony; Foster

We say: Aston Villa 1-0 Burnley

Burnley will be the fresher of the two sides, with Villa in European action on Thursday night, so the home side will not have had long to prepare for this match. That said, we are still expecting Emery's team to pick up another victory, which would be their fourth in a row in all competitions.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.