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We come into the festive period on the back of two very good wins. We now have the opportunity to make the festivities in Geordieland all the more joyful with three points against a club many of the Newcastle fan base dislike. Ruining or at least putting a damper on the Christmas of Villa fans would be a very good feeling indeed. If we win today and results go our way between now and the 7th of May we’ll have not only the opportunity to leave their Christmas turkey tasting sour but we could also possibly have the honour of relegating them at Villa Park. Oh how I would love that to happen. I wonder what the banners at Villa Park would read that day?
Earlier in the season Villa disposed of ‘Tactics Tim’ for the well dressed Frenchmen Rémi Garde. Rémi’s revival however has been pretty much non-existent thanks to the continuation of poor form. The Midlands club have lost 10 of their last 12 Premier League matches and will be bottom of the Premier League table on Christmas day regardless of today’s result.
How far cut adrift they are is what today’s game will determine. Best case scenario for Aston Villa is they win and Sunderland, Norwich and Swansea lose. Putting Villa 3 points behind 19th placed Sunderland and 5 points behind safety. Worst case scenario for Villa is they lose and their immediate relegation rivals all win putting them 11 points away from safety.
Our last two somewhat unexpected wins have left things looking a lot more rosier for us. Best case scenario for us position wise heading into Christmas is if we win and Bournemouth lose, moving us up to 14th. If the bottom three lose as well as us winning we can tuck into to our turkey roasts safe in the knowledge we are 5 points above the relegation zone. Worst case scenario is of course a defeat, which will drag us right back into the relegation battle.