'Madness': Paul Merson shocked by what he's read about Aston Villa ahead of today's game

Today at 05:47 AM

Aston Villa return to Premier League action on Saturday when they host Crystal Palace in a 3pm kick-off at Villa Park.

Unai Emery’s charges initially picked up from where they left off last season in 2024/25, but their form has since taken a hit.

Aston Villa, who are currently ninth in the Premier League table, haven’t won a game in all competitions in a month now.

In addition, the Villans have lost four games in a row in all competitions, so they’ll be eager to get back to winning ways.

Standing in Villa’s way are Crystal Palace, who have only won one Premier League game all season and sit 18th in the table.

However, Oliver Glasner’s charges have already beaten Villa once this term, knocking them out of the Carabao Cup on 30 October.

Paul Merson has now predicted how the Villans will fare against the Eagles, pointing out one statistic involving the hosts which he deemed “madness”.

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Paul Merson says Aston Villa’s goal difference is ‘madness’

Merson, writing on Sportskeeda, reckons Villa will record a routine 2-0 win over Palace, but his prediction came with some words of caution.

He noted how Villa’s goal difference is zero, which is something they need to improve over the coming weeks and months.

“Big game for both teams,” wrote Merson. “Aston Villa have to get back to winning ways. Form-wise they have dropped off a bit and they must turn that around quickly.

“Villa are without a win in their last five games across all competitions, having lost four on the trot after the draw with Bournemouth.

“During this wretched run of form, Crystal Palace beat Villa in the EFL Cup round of 16 clash. But Palace are still in a bit of trouble in the league in my opinion.

“After this trip to Villa, they have some huge games coming up where they face Newcastle, Ipswich, Manchester City, Brighton and Arsenal. That’s a tough run.

“I’m backing Villa to get back on track with a win here. They are ninth in the league now, if they don’t win again, they will drift away from the big boys quickly.

“I know they are only one point away from third-place, but there are a lot of teams in front of them.

“Their goal difference is zero, which is madness. Tottenham are actually behind Villa and Spurs’ goal difference is +10!

“Goal difference acts as an extra point in this league, so Villa must be careful and work in improving it.

“They also have Juventus coming up in the Champions League and like I always say, they must not get caught up with that playing on their minds. It has to be one game at a time.”

Aston Villa team news v Crystal Palace

Ross Barkley and Matty Cash are both expected to return to the fold having missed out due to injury before the international break.

But Ezri Konsa, Amadou Onana, Jacob Ramsey and Boubacar Kamara are set to miss the encounter against the Eagles.

As for Palace, Cheick Doucoure, Will Hughes, Chris Richards and Jefferson Lerma are set to return to the starting lineup against Villa.

However, Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton remain out, along with Eddie Nketiah, Matheus Franca and Daichi Kamada.