There is just one Premier League fixture on Sunday but there is plenty at stake in a West Midlands derby as Aston Villa host a West Bromwich Albion side riding high in the Premier League.
There are of course bigger rivals for the clubs in Birmingham City and Wolves but there will be no lack of intensity and commitment on Sunday afternoon as the players look to give the fans the bragging rights.
Both sides of course began the campaign with new managers, with Villa turning to Paul Lambert to turn things around after the dire reign of Alex McLeish, while the Baggies have turned to Steve Clarke after Roy Hodgson was appointed as the new England boss.
There is no doubt that Clarke has enjoyed the better of the starts with three wins already under his belt as the Baggies sit pretty in fourth place in the table, while Villa have won just once in the league this term and find themselves in 14th place on four points.
However, Villa can only have been boosted by a fantastic win at Manchester City in the Capital One Cup in midweek and they have been installed as 6/4 favourites in the match betting, with Albion priced at 2/1 while the draw is on offer at 9/4.
True, West Brom have won three times this season but all three victories have come at the Hawthorns and Clarke’s men were soundly beaten 3-0 by Fulham the last time on their travels.
Villa have looked far from convincing this season, beating Swansea well in their only win in the league but crumbling to a 4-1 defeat at Southampton the week after despite taking the lead.
However, that victory over City could be the catalyst that Lambert was looking for and Gabriel Agbonlahor showed he is fully recovered from the knee injury sustained in pre-season.
The 25-year-old bagged two goals in an impressive performance at the Etihad and is available at 13/2 as First/Last Goalscorer, although whether he has done enough to earn a start remains to be seen, with 7/4 on offer as an Anytime Scorer.
Darren Bent (5/1 First/Last and 11/8 Anytime) and Christian Benteke (6/1 and 13/8) have been the preferred strikers so far but may now be anxiously looking over their shoulders.
Competition for places has got to be a good thing though and could well work in Lambert’s favour whichever way he goes, although the Villa boss will be without Stephen Ireland and Joe Bennett, offset by the news Brett Holman has recovered from a knee problem.
West Brom are not without their own injury problems though as Liam Ridgewell, James Morrison, Steven Reid, Jermaine Thomas and Goran Popov are all doubtful, while Peter Odemwingie is definitely out as he completes his ban following his sending off against Fulham.
Villa are not the sort of side, not yet anyway, that seem ready to batter an opponent out of sight, regardless of the venue but, although West Brom can certainly give them a game, they should have the momentum going into this fixture to take the three points.
The Baggies go into this one on the back of being beaten 2-1 by Liverpool at the Hawthorns in the Capital One Cup, while their away form leaves a little to be desired.
However, they can at least get on the scoreboard and 2-1 has been a popular scoreline of late with five of the last six results ending that way – three times to Villa – and that is priced at a tempting 17/2.
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