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Premier League Match Week 26: 5 Things to Watch For

By Afshin Zahraee

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Jul 26, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark (6) controls the ball during the second half against the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium. Aston Villa defeated the Dynamo 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

4. Tim Sherwood Makes his EPL Return

While Tim Sherwood technically already made his mark on Aston Villa in their impressive FA Cup victory last weekend over Leicester City with his inspirational halftime talk, this is what he was brought on board for. Sherwood and Villa’s fight out of relegation begins on Saturday when the Claret and Blue host Stoke City.

After heading into the half last weekend at 0-0 against Leicester in their aforementioned FA Cup tie, Aston Villa were woken up by Sherwood and came out with some fire and passion the Villa Park faithful hadn’t seen in a while. In miraculous fashion, Aston Villa finally found the back of the net. Ever more miraculously, they did it more than once! Leandro Bacuna beautifully curled a strike that found the side netting to put the Villans ahead 1-0. Scott Sinclair followed that up in the 89th minute to send the fans into a delirious state. After all, two goals from Villa in one match has been quite rare this season. Only a Andrej Kramaric late goal prevented Villa from keeping a clean sheet.

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    • Whether Aston Villa can carry that form into this weekend against a higher rated Stoke side remains to be seen. Christian Benteke, as I predicted here, looked a lot more lively than he had in previous weeks. A rejuvenation of the sleeping giant is exactly what the Villans are in need of here and Tim Sherwood is the man for the job. Benteke will be a factor in this one as well, whether it comes down to overpowering a physical Stoke defense, or holding up play and finding the runs of Sinclair, Bacuna, Carles Gil, or Weimann.

    Villa won’t be shocking Stoke City any time soon though as Stoke manager Mark Hughes is aware of the “new manager bounce” and will likely be prepared for what Villa brings. Here is how he described the coming match:

    "“Aston Villa have got a new manager so inevitably there will be a new manager bounce. It’s a case of players wanting to impress. Sherwood comes across as a very positive guy and he will have been working on their positive thinking. We’ll be prepared for that.”"

    This is one worth watching, both to see how the Birmingham side perform in EPL play under a new manager and to see if they can work their way out of the relegation zone.

    Next: Will Competing in Europa League Continue to Hurt EPL Sides?

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