Sunderland on Sunday, Forest next in Europe and match facts from the BBC

Last night was very good and I'm struggling to find anything something that made me think that was strange or why did we do that. Disappointed with the missed penalty but penalties get saved and it happens to everyone.

The approach to the game, the energy, the professionalism, it was almost the perfect ninety minutes. But I'm an Aston Villa fan, so I'm not getting too excited or optimistic. I think by writing it was almost the perfect ninety minutes is getting too excited though, but I have a habit of contradicting myself.

And now we have Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals. It wont be easy and over two matches anything can happen but I think we can all feel a little confidence that we will approach the matches the way we should and that the players will know what is expected of them. The manager certainly knows what is expected at this stage of the tournament.

But this post is about Sunderland on Sunday. We have six matches this season to secure Champions League for next season. As things stand we're in a good place and I wrote about something I saw on X in the previous post, but apparently two wins should statistically give us a very good chance. I think nine points and we're in a very good place. 

And that starts with Sunderland at Villa Park on Sunday and even though they are tenth, they're also playing for the possibility of European football this season. They beat us and there will be talk that they could qualify for Champions League. This wont be a walk in the park but if we approach this game in the same way we approached the game last night, we are putting ourselves in the best place possible to get the first three points of the nine we need.

Match facts from the BBC

• Aston Villa have lost just one of their last 13 league games against Sunderland (W6 D6), going down 3-1 at the Stadium of Light in January 2016.

• Sunderland haven’t won any of their last six away league games against Aston Villa (D4 L2). This is their first visit since a 2-1 loss in the Championship in November 2017, and their first in the Premier League since a 2-2 draw in August 2015.

• Aston Villa ended 2025 on a run of 12 victories in 14 Premier League games (L2) but since the turn of the year, the Villans have only picked up 16 points in 13 games (W4 D4 L5), putting them 14th in the form table in 2026.

• Sunderland have won their last two Premier League games, and are looking to record three consecutive top-flight victories for the first time since a run of four in April/May 2014. This will be their 148th top-flight game since then.

• Aston Villa have never lost to a newly promoted team in the Premier League under Unai Emery (W14 D5), with their last defeat coming against Fulham in October 2022 in Steven Gerrard’s last game in charge. Sunderland, though, are one of three teams Emery has faced in the competition and never beaten (P1 D1), along with Ipswich (D2) and Liverpool (D4 L6).

• Sunderland have won 46 points in the Premier League this season, already their most in a top-flight season since 2010-11 (47). Should they win this game, it’d be their most since earning 57 in 2000-01.

• Since the start of February, only Newcastle (9) have dropped more points from winning positions than Aston Villa (7) in the Premier League. They’ve won just two of their last five games when going ahead (D2 L1), having won 23 of their previous 24 when leading beforehand (D1).

• Sunderland’s 12 wins in the Premier League this season are as many as all three newly promoted sides managed combined last season. It’s the most victories by a promoted team in a season since Fulham won 15 in 2022-23.

• John McGinn has been involved in five goals in his last six Premier League home appearances for Aston Villa (3 goals, 2 assists). Villa have won 58% of their games with the Scotsman in the starting XI this season (14/24), compared to only 25% without him (2/8).

• Only Wolves (12) have had players of more different nationalities (excl. own goals) score in the Premier League this season than Sunderland (11), though the Black Cats are the only team without an English scorer.