Preview: Aston Villa vs. West Bromwich Albion

Aston Villa host Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Wednesday with both teams looking over their shoulders in the table.

Tenth-placed Villa are currently six points above the relegation zone, while 13th-placed West Brom sit four points clear of the bottom three.

The hosts head into the match on the back of a 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield nearly two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the visitors drew 1-1 with Everton last time out in what was new manager Pepe Mel's first game in charge.

Villa and West Brom played out an entertaining 2-2 draw when they met at The Hawthorns in November. The Baggies got themselves into a 2-0 lead before the away side fought back to earn a share of the spoils.

Gabriel Agbonlahor faces a late fitness test for Villa, while Nathan Baker could also be in line to start following a spell on the sidelines.

West Brom are expected to be without Gareth McAuley, but Goran Popov may return to the squad after being out of action with a neck injury.

Recent form

Aston Villa: LDWLLD

West Brom: DDWLLD

Possible starting lineups

Aston Villa: Guzan; Bacuna, Vlaar, Clark, Bertrand; El Ahmadi, Westwood, Delph, Agbonlahor, Weimann; Benteke

West Brom: Foster; Reid, Lugano, Olsson, Ridgewell; Brunt, Morrison, Yacob, Gera; Vydra, Anelka

Sports Mole says: 1-1