Match Preview: Aston Villa v Sunderland — Can We Make It Three Wins In A Row?

***Sunday 19th April 2026***

Aston Villa v Sunderland – ***Premier League***

**Villa Park** – ***Kick-Off:*** 14:00

**Tickets & Match Coverage**

**Tickets:** Tickets are sold out. **TV/Stream:** Full live match coverage is available on Sky Sports. **Radio:** Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)

*Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (**@RokerReport**) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at* *www.RokerReport.sbnation.com!*

**The build-up…**

Considering how brilliant a season it’s been, I was a bit surprised when I realised that after beating Spurs last Sunday, it was only the second time this season that we had won in successive games in the Premier League. The only previous time we managed this feat was the back end of October, when we beat at home then went and beat in the big smoke. Since suffering defeat at the Stadium of Light against in late February, we’ve seen the return of some of that early-season form. That defeat meant we’d lost five of seven games but since then, we’ve seemingly gone back to what we do well, with the solid foundations of our structure combining with getting the big moments right when they come along. The five games since contain a blip in terms of the loss against on our own patch, but away performances at , and up the road was backed up with picking up three points last Sunday against Spurs — which ended up as a fairly convincing win, taking the chances on both sides into account. The stats aren’t on our side when looking at goals — which apparently win games. Only Wolves have scored fewer on the road than we have this season and only Citeh, and ourselves have conceded fewer on home soil. But, not many people gave us a chance at Elland Road under the lights or at St James’, where it was assumed they would get revenge. In terms of incentive, have a small matter of a Merseyside derby kicking off at the same time as we do — and if they lose that and we manage to claim maximum points, the gap to a Champions League place is reduced to three points. Food for thought. It’s been around three-and-a-half years that Unai Emery has been in charge at Villa Park now, and he hasn’t done bad. The Spaniard took over from in late October 2022 with Villa three places and three points above the drop after twelve games, and they ended up finishing 7th. This resulted in European football for Aston Villa for the first time since 2010-11, which was also the last time they had finished in the top half of the Premier League before the arrival of Emery. They bettered that in his second season, finishing 4th (which brought Champions League football to Villa Park), and then 6th last season. So, five games into this season, questions were asked when Villa hadn’t won in their first five games of the season and performances matched the points on the board. The final game of that sequence was the draw at the Stadium of Light and after that draw, they won twelve out of the next thirteen fixtures. This saw them rocket up the table to the point where they were considered to be in the title race during the festive season. But since the final game of 2025 — which ended up a 4-1 defeat at Arsenal — Emery’s side have won just four out of fourteen games, which has slightly gone under the radar on a national level. Most recently, they are on a run of one win in the last six. With just six games remaining however, Villa are quite comfortably in the top four, with a seven point gap between themselves and Chelsea in 6th, so something would have to go spectacularly wrong for Villa fans to once again not to have Champions League football to look forward to.