Aston Villa host local rivals Birmingham City in a sold-out derby clash at Villa Park in the Championship on Sunday.
Steve Bruce's side are on an impressive run of form at the moment and they have aims of earning promotion back to the Premier League.
Birmingham City, meanwhile, are struggling at the other end of the table and they will hope to use the derby clash as a springboard for an improvement in fortunes.
The sides could not be separated when they faced off at St Andrew's back in October, but there are sure to fireworks as they each seek the bragging rights this weekend.
| Game | Aston Villa vs Birmingham City |
| Date | Sunday, February 11 |
| Time | 12:00 GMT / 07:00 ET |
TV Channel & Live Stream
In the United States (US), the game is available to watch live on TV on ESPN 3 and it can be streamed live online using the WatchESPN facility.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| ESPN 3 | WatchESPN |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on TV on Sky Sports Football and it can be streamed live online using Sky Go.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Football | Sky Go |
Squads & Team News
| Position | Aston Villa players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Johnstone, Steer, Bunn |
| Defenders | N. Taylor, Samba, Chester, Bree, Richards, Hutton, Terry, Tuanzebe, Clark, Bedeau |
| Midfielders | Whelan, Snodgrass, Lansbury, Grealish, Hourihane, Jedinak, Green, Bjarnason, El Mohamady, Abdo, Doyle-Hayes, Adomah, Lyden, Davis, Cox, Borg |
| Forwards | Hogan, Agbonlahor, Onomah, Kodjia, Hepburn-Murphy, O'Hare, C. Taylor, Grabban |
Colin Calderwood revealed that new loan signing Lewis Grabban from Bournemouth is pushing to make a derby debut for the club, while Robert Snodgrass has been cleared to play despite suffering a minor knock in the last game against Burton Albion.
Villa have no suspensions to worry about and the squad is at near-full health.
Potential Aston Villa starting XI: Johnstone; Terry, Chester, Hutton, El Mohamady; Bjarnason, Hourihane, Grealish, Adomah, Snodgrass; Hogan.
| Position | Birmingham City players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Stockdale, Kuszczak, Trueman |
| Defenders | Grounds, Roberts, Colin, Dean, Bramall, Jenkinson, Cogley, Morrison, O'Keefe, Robinson, Harding, Seddon |
| Midfielders | Kieftenbeld, Gardner, Che Adams, N'Doye, Maghoma, Boga, Lowe, Davis, Jota, Lakin |
| Forwards | Jutkiewicz, Vassell, Gallagher |
Birmingham will be without defender Jonathan Grounds who is unavailable after suffering a knee injury that has been described by Steve Cotterill as "not a good one".
Arsenal loanee Carl Jenkinson is in line to start the game after featuring in his side's FA Cup defeat to Huddersfield Town.
Potential Birmingham City starting XI: Stockdale; Jenkinson, Dean, Roberts, Colin; Kieftenbeld, N'Doye, Davis, Boga, Jota; Gallagher.
Betting & Match Odds
Home side Aston Villa are favourites to win, with dabblebet pricing them at 8/11. Birmingham are considered a 17/4 bet to win and a draw is available at 5/2.
Albert Adomah is Villa's top scorer and he is 15/4 to score first, while Lukas Jutkiewicz is deemed to be the Blues best chance of scoring, with 8/1 attached to his name.
Match Preview
Getty Images
Steve Bruce was recently awarded the Championship Manager of the Month award and with good reason as he guided the team to four consecutive league victories in January.
In all, Villa have strung together six league wins in a row, having not lost in the division since late December, and that sort of form sees them firmly in the picture for a play-off spot, but they will undoubtedly be aiming for automatic promotion.
Bruce's men are currently third in the table and, while Cardiff City could potentially leapfrog them on Friday evening, just a point separates them from second-place Derby County.
The likes of Conor Hourihane, Jack Grealish and Albert Adomah have been in top form for Villa during this campaign and they have been boosted by the addition of Lewis Grabban, who already scored 12 goals for Sunderland while on loan there for the first half of the season.
Nevertheless, they will surely face a much sterner task against the Blues on Sunday than they did earlier in the season, with Cotterill overseeing an upturn in fortunes since December and his players are certain to be riled up for the occasion, especially having won their last two league matches.
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