Preview: Aston Villa vs S'land

Martin O'Neill still remains optimistic his side can qualify for Europe, but the visit of Sunderland is never a walk over and Villa Park will need to be a fortress today if they are to move closer to that European qualification - Villa are seven points away from Everton who are fifth.

Teams

Defender Olof Mellberg is out for the home side with a suspension, but things are pretty rosey for Martin O'Neill who has a full squad to choose from.

Sunderland on the other hand will miss Dickson Etuhu, yet Daryl Murphy, Kieran Richardson and Michael Chopra will return to action possibly after missing the last game against Chelsea.

Squads

Aston Villa (from): Carson, Taylor, Gardner, Knight, Laursen, Bouma, Agbonlahor, Reo-Coker, Barry, Young, Petrov, Berger, Osbourne, Carew, Maloney, Harewood, Salifou.

Sunderland (from): Gordon, Fulop, Bardsley, Collins, McShane, Evans, Higginbotham, Harte, Whitehead, Reid, Leadbitter, Edwards, Miller, Richardson, O'Donovan, Jones, Waghorn, Murphy, Stokes, Chopra, Prica.