Aston Villa 0 - 0 Burnley: Finished | 2020-12-17 | Premier League

Goalkeepers	G	GC	SAV
Emiliano Martínez	0	0	4

Forwards	G	GA	S	FC	FW
Ollie Watkins	0	0	3	3	1

Midfielders	S	FC	FW
Marvelous Nakamba	0	4	2
John McGinn	0	1	3
Jack Grealish	3	1	7
Anwar El Ghazi	7	2	0
Bertrand Traoré 80'	2	2	1

Defenders	S	FC	FW
Ahmed El Mohamady	1	1	0
Matt Targett	0	0	1
Kortney Hause	2	1	1
Tyrone Mings	2	2	1

Substitutes	FC	FW
Keinan Davis 80'(Bertrand Traoré)	0	0
Jacob Ramsey	0	0
Frédéric Guilbert	0	0
Björn Engels	0	0
Conor Hourihane	0	0
Neil Taylor	0	0
Jed Steer	-	-

Goalkeepers	G	GC	SAV
Nick Pope	0	0	6

Forwards	G	GA	S	FC	FW
Chris Wood 82'	0	0	1	2	0
Jay Rodriguez 65'	0	0	1	4	1

Midfielders	S	FC	FW
Ashley Westwood	1	2	1
Josh Brownhill	0	1	1
Dwight McNeil	0	1	2
Robbie Brady 91'	2	1	1

Defenders	S	FC	FW
Matthew Lowton	0	0	3
Charlie Taylor	0	2	2
James Tarkowski	0	1	1
Ben Mee	1	3	0

Substitutes	FC	FW
Ashley Barnes 65'(Jay Rodriguez)	2	4
Matej Vydra 82'(Chris Wood)	0	0
Erik Pieters 91'(Robbie Brady)	0	0
Josh Benson	0	0
Kevin Long	0	0
Phil Bardsley	0	0
Bailey Peacock-Farrell	-	-

90'+2'

That is all from this Premier League fixture, until next time!

90'+2'

After that draw, Smith's men sit in 11th, albeit a win from one of their two games in hand could see them climb as high as seventh. Next up for the hosts, they face a derby away at West Brom. Dyche's side, who defended resolutely here, will next host Wolves as they continue in attempting to get their season back on track.

90'+2'

Burnley climb out of the relegation zone with a 0-0 draw at Villa Park. The hosts will come away from this one frustrated, given that both Hause and El Ghazi were denied by the woodwork in the first 45. The second half followed a similar pattern, with Grealish and El Ghazi the main testers of Pope but neither of them could score past the Clarets, no matter how many times they tried, which is why the teams leave Villa Park with a point each.

90'+2'

FULL-TIME: ASTON VILLA 0-0 BURNLEY

90'+1'

A defensive change by Burnley sees Pieters come on for midfielder Brady.

90'+1'

There is to be only two minutes of added time as this game heads to its conclusion and it looks like Dyche is going to make another change or two.

90'

OVER THE BAR! Grealish is still trying to make things happen, on this occasion, he coasts in from the left-hand side, reaching the edge of the area before shooting just over the bar with his right foot. Pope then, rightfully, screams at his defence as he asks who was closing Villa's captain down there.

88'

SO CLOSE! Villa play a free-kick short to El Mohamady, who has time to get his head up and pick out his outswinging cross towards the penalty spot. Mings meets the cross on the run and despite being unmarked, heads just wide to the left of Pope's goal.

87'

Brady goes down softly wide on the right but it is enough to convince Pawson to give the free-kick. McNeil's left-footed delivery is then poor and travels over every player in the area and out for a goal-kick.

86'

Watkins returns to the field for the second time in three minutes and this time, after having his nose patched up, he is allowed to get back to playing.

85'

Since the start of last season, the hosts have scored more winning goals in the 90th minute or later than any other Premier League side, with El Ghazi’s winner against Wolves last time out giving them their fourth such victory. It is heading towards that time of the game once more, can Villa grab another late winner here?

84'

Watkins gets cautioned for ignoring the instructions of Pawson and returning to the pitch too quickly, as he still required medical treatment.

84'

Watkins keeps the ball in the air as he shows off his skills but his run eventually comes to an end as Mee kicks him in the chest. The centre-back's needless foul offer the hosts another chance to cross from wide on the right, after Watkins has received some quick medical attention and returned to the pitch.

82'

Wood, who saw his headed attempt saved well by Martinez in the first half, is replaced by Vydra in another like-for-like change by Dyche.

81'

Grealish slides in Watkins, who then makes the wrong choice as he opts to go on his own down the left-hand side, instead of playing in Davis and El Ghazi. A poor decision results in the striker losing possession, courtesy of Lowton's sliding tackle.

80'

Traore is replaced by Davis as Smith makes his first change of the game.

78'

Traore looks destined to open the scoring as he has tons of time on his left foot inside the area, only for Tarkowski to produce the perfect sliding block to stop the Villa man from troubling Pope. Targett then reaches the byline and drills across goal but Pope collects the cross as he dives down to his left.

77'

McGinn evades a firm tackle in the middle of the park before finding El Ghazi, who returns the favour as he tees up Grealish. Villa's captain then squares up Lowton, goes on his left foot and slams an effort just wide to the right of Pope from inside the area.

75'

It is that man El Ghazi once again, this time, he dances inside two Burnley defenders before blasting a wild right-footed effort well wide of Pope's goal. Another chances goes begging for the hosts.

73'

Barnes wastes a glorious opportunity after a poor clearance by Martinez, as the striker appears more interested in winning a foul off Hause then attacking the goal from the left of the area.

72'

McNeil puts two hands in the air but it is Westwood who takes the set-piece. After the ball bouncing all over the place inside the area, Mee smashes a volley towards goal, which Martinez rather casually catches in the centre of his goal.

71'

A minute or so of decent possession for Dyche's men results in Hause clearing out for a throw-in deep on the right. Burnley then rather sensibly opt to play backwards and retain possession, before Pope is forced into clearing long towards Wood, who is fouled by Mings 45 yards from goal.

69'

Westwood and Traore have a bit of a disagreement as the latter is slow in giving the visitors the ball back for a free-kick. Westwood then slams his free-kick into the chest of Traore in the one-man wall, which may have exacted revenge but it did not do his team any attacking favours.

68'

Grealish thinks he has beaten Mee, only for the centre-back to recover and block it out for a corner. Traore delivers accurately towards the near post, where Mings cannot direct his header towards goal under the pressure of Wood.

67'

CHANCE! Chances keep falling to El Ghazi, courtesy of Grealish's hard work through the middle. On this occasion, Villa's captain feeds El Ghazi, who, with just the goalkeeper to beat, tamely shoots straight into the feet of Pope. He has to be doing better from there if his side are going to open the scoring in the second half.

66'

The visitors skew one or two clearances, which allows the hosts to regain possession. However, they waste the opportunity as El Mohamady crosses straight into the hands of the towering Pope.

65'

A like-for-like swap up top comes as Rodriguez is brought off for Barnes.

64'

As Dyche looks set to make the first change of the game, Brady cuts in on his left and stings the hands of Martinez, who palms the ball down before sweeping up the danger.

63'

Back-to-back corners in quick succession lead to a third consecutive corner on the left-hand side. Grealish ignores the short option before crossing to the near post, where El Mohamady heads comfortably over the target.

62'

Grealish again provides for El Ghazi for the second time in as many minutes. This time, El Ghazi's right-footed effort is deflected behind for a corner to the visitors as it loops well over Pope's goal.

61'

A rare chance at the other end comes for the visitors as Rodriguez volley well over with his left foot from the edge of the D. A warning sign for Villa to not expect all one-way traffic this half.

60'

SAVE! Grealish leaps to control Mings' firm pass through the middle. Villa's captain then exchanges passes with El Ghazi, reaching the edge of the area, before the latter shapes to bend one into the far corner but Pope gets down well to his left to save.

59'

Just 33% of Villa’s Premier League points this season have been won in home games (6/18), with the Villains losing each of their last three at Villa Park. Will they improve that record here?

57'

WIDE! The visitors look concerned as El Ghazi races towards the edge of the D. The Villa man then sets one outside of Pope's left-hand post as he looks to curl it in, however, he does not get enough whip on the effort and it sails just wide of the target.

56'

El Ghazi is perhaps lucky to escape a booking as he jumps directly into Lowton, clattering the full-back. Pawson sees the tackle differently as he gestures that El Ghazi only had eyes for the ball and takes no subsequent action.

55'

Villa's captain takes the set-piece and looks for El Ghazi at the back post. However, Lowton smartly gets his body in the way, forcing El Ghazi to foul and earns a free-kick for the visitors, which Pope launches down the pitch.

54'

McGinn's touch lets him down inside the area, after Grealish had done well to ghost past Brownhill to the left. However, the Scots' poor touch does not matter as the visitors win a free-kick in a good position just to the right of the area.

53'

Grealish finds tons of room outside the area before unselfishly sliding in Traore. The Villa forward then opts to pass rather than shoot, despite being through on goal against Pope and two Burnley defenders do well to turn it away for a corner.

51'

McNeil sticks his left-footed corner straight on Martinez, who is crowded by numerous Burnley shirts inside the six-yard area. One or two of the visitors are then far too enthusiastic to win the ball and referee Pawson has no choice but to award a free-kick to Smith's side.

50'

Burnley get the ball down and play confidently out of what could have been a fairly tricky press from Villa. They then work it out to McNeil, who crosses towards Brady at the back post and Targett is forced to head out for a corner to the visitors.

49'

Nakamba plays the perfect throughball to Watkins, who chests it down and is then tackled by Tarkowski before he can progress. The Villa striker has been fairly quiet all game, perhaps that is due to Burnley's deep defensive line, however.

45'+2'

Looking ahead to the next half, Villa will simply feel they just need to keep doing what they are doing and chances will come. Otherwise, Smith and his coaching staff may look towards the likes of Hourihane or youngster Ramsey off the bench. For the visitors, they too will be happy with their performance so far, but may feel they need to be more clinical on the counter-attack when gaps open up.

45'+2'

The sides go in at half-time level at 0-0. However, Smith and his men will be wondering what they have to do to open the scoring, given both El Ghazi and Hause were denied by the frame of the goal in the first 45. Dyche's side have not rolled over though and, in fact, could have been leading at half-time, if it was not for Martinez's excellent save to deny Wood's header.

47'

Watkins hassles Tarkowski but the centre-back does well to win a throw-in for the visitors. The game then reduces to a match of long balls and headers for a minute or so before normality returns, with Grealish bringing down possession and getting fouled.

45'+2'

HALF-TIME: ASTON VILLA 0-0 BURNLEY

46'

The hosts attempted 16 shots in the first half against Burnley, the most by any side without scoring in the opening 45 minutes of a Premier League match since Chelsea had 17 without finding the net versus Brighton and Hove Albion in September 2019.

46'

Both sets of players are back out and referee Pawson gets this Premier League fixture back underway!

45'+1'

Grealish dances past Brownhill before being fouled by Tarkowski. In the Villa's captain's attempts to retrieve the ball for the free-kick, he throws Tarkowski to the floor but referee Pawson sees nothing wrong as he diffuses the situation before restarting play with the hosts' free-kick.

45'

There is to be one minute of added time as Pope looks to launch a quick counter-attack through to Brady and Rodriguez but Nakamba is alert to the danger inside his own half.

43'

El Mohamady and Traore link-up again down the right-hand side with McNeil forced into conceding another corner to the hosts.

42'

Lowton takes an age to deliver a free-kick from the halfway line. When he finally does so, it trickles through for Martinez to claim. Villa then launch a counter-attack, which ends with Watkins shooting into the hands of Pope from the left-hand side.

41'

Brady, just like El Ghazi, beats the wall with ease, however, his left-footed effort is far more down the middle and easy for Martinez to catch.

40'

After El Ghazi's effort that hit the bar, Burnley now have a chance in a fairly similar position, 25 yards from goal with Brownhill and Brady standing over a free-kick, courtesy of Nakamba's needless foul.

38'

McNeil leads a counter-attack, coasting past three or four Villa shirts and into the area to challenge Martinez. However, seemingly out of nowhere, Traore gets back on the recovery run and hoofs a left-footed clearance out for a throw-in before McNeil can prosper.

37'

OFF THE BAR! Traore and El Ghazi stand over the free-kick but it is the latter who takes it, whipping it over the wall and beating Pope but the effort then cannons into the bar! The hosts will be wondering what they have to do to get a goal here.

36'

Grealish goes roaming once more, leaving Brady in his tracks before Mee is forced into fouling Villa's captain 25 yards from goal. This is a decent opportunity for the hosts to test Pope, with the free-kick just left of centre.

34'

El Mohamady, as he has done for most of his career, crosses from deep with his right foot. On this occasion, the outswinging cross finds the feet of Grealish, who can only volley well wide to the right of Pope's goal.

32'

Brady goes in late and through the back of Nakamba, deservedly earning him the first caution of the game.

31'

OFF THE LINE! El Mohamady has tons of time to line up a volley on the edge of the area, after Taylor had beaten Traore in the air. Somehow, he still manages to scuff his shot but it deflects off the knee of Watkins and appears to be rebounding into the left-hand corner of the goal, only for Lowton to head it clear off the line!

30'

Grealish invites three players towards him before teeing up El Mohamady. Villa's right-back, on the edge of the area, then plays a one-two with Watkins before he overhits his right-footed cross from deep out for a goal-kick. A wasted opportunity from a good position there for the hosts.

28'

Traore and McGinn repeat a short corner routine, with the former reaching the corner of the box before shooting tamely into the grateful hands of Pope in Burnley's goal.

27'

Grealish is afforded far too much space as he roams in from the left-hand side, fortunately for the visitors, his right-footed shot is then deflected behind for a corner on the right, which Traore will take.

26'

Rodriguez looks to be the provider as he rolls in a right-footed cross towards Brownhill in the area, however, it is a touch to strong, which allows Martinez to collect with relative ease.

25'

Wood nearly opened the scoring for the visitors moments ago, in fact, he has scored in all three of his league starts against Villa, netting for Leeds in December 2016 and in both games for Burnley last season.

23'

El Ghazi is far too optimistic as he cuts in on his right foot and then shoots well over from 30 yards out. He is never going to test Pope from that sort of distance.

21'

SAVE! Martinez pulls off a magnificent save, diving to his right to turn away Wood's headed effort from the penalty spot. Initially, Brownhill had found himself in an unusual position on the right-hand side before he crossed towards the Burnley striker in the area.

19'

Westwood bursts from midfield to get on the end of Brady's pass on the edge of the area and shoot. Martinez stands still, which at first appears concerning, but then it turns out Westwood's effort is much wider of the target than first thought and goes out for a goal-kick.

18'

Brady whips in a cross, cutting in from the right, searching for Rodriguez at the back post. However, Hause deals with the initial cross before El Mohamady does well to beat McNeil to the loose ball and then clears long. The visitors have started to grow into this game in the last couple of minutes or so.

16'

Taylor has his arms in the air, whether he is letting his frustrations out at Mee or the assistant is unclear, either way, Villa regain possession but falter as Watkins is then defeated in the air by Tarkowski.

14'

These opening stages have been dominated by Villa, Dyche's side do not seem to be able to get out of their own half, as every time they go forward, Hause and Mings are too quick and dispossess Burnley's duo up top. If things carry on like this, it has to only be a matter of the time before the likes of Grealish and Watkins combine to trouble Pope.

12'

Mings leaves Rodriguez on the floor as he intercepts and feeds El Ghazi, who spins elegantly before unleashing a right-footed shot, which goes wide of the target to the left of Pope's goal.

10'

Smith’s men won their first two home Premier League matches in 2020/21 but have since lost their last three. A loss here would make them the third top-flight team to win their first two home games of the season then lose their next four, after Nottingham Forest (1904/05) and Newcastle United (1953/54).

9'

A second corner comes for Villa, again courtesy of a deflection off Lowton. This time Villa play it short, with the move eventually breaking down as Grealish's touch is far too heavy and runs out for a goal-kick.

8'

Watkins shifts it onto his right before powering past Mee and racing towards the byline. Unfortunately for Smith's side, the striker's cross then asks too much of Grealish, who was waiting for a simple tap-in at the back post.

6'

Watkins pressurises Pope and Mee, forcing the latter to clear long down the pitch. The hosts then look to create a chance through McGinn in the middle but Rodriguez, rather cynically, fouls the Scot and the striker is perhaps lucky to escape a booking for his efforts.

5'

WIDE! McGinn takes the corner but Mee jumps the highest to head clear. The loose ball then falls to the feet of Traore, who volleys with his left foot, however, it goes just wide of Pope's goal to the right. A half chance for Villa within the opening five minutes here.

4'

Mings goes in search of Targett but his pass is overhit and instead of finding the left-back, it finds the seats surrounding Villa Park. Watkins and Grealish both then have shots blocked before Lowton gives away the first corner of the match.

2'

Grealish finds Traore, who then drifts inside and curls a cross towards Watkins at the back post. Tarkowski does incredibly well to slide and block the ball, before it can trouble Pope in the opening stages of this game.

1'

Referee Craig Pawson blows his whistle to get this Premier League fixture underway!

-

The players are making their way out at Villa Park and shortly the game will kick-off.

-

Smith’s men are looking to win consecutive top-flight matches against Burnley for the first time since November 1964, following their 2-1 win at Turf Moor in January this year.

-

It comes as no surprise that Sean Dyche sticks with the eleven that defeated Arsenal for the first time since 1974. Wood partners Rodriguez up top, while the industrious Brownhill carries on in midfield alongside Westwood.

-

Dean Smith makes four changes to his last side, with all four players introduced making their first league starts this season. The suspended duo of Matthew Cash and Douglas Luiz drop out for Nakamba and El Mohamady. The other two changes see El Ghazi and Hause replace Ramsey and Konsa, who had formed a fairly strong partnership at the back with Mings up to this point.

-

SUBS: Erik Pieters, Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Ashley Barnes, Josh Benson, Kevin Long, Matej Vydra, Phil Bardsley.

-

BURNLEY (4-4-2): Nick Pope; James Tarkowski, Charlie Taylor, Ben Mee, Matthew Lowton; Dwight McNeil, Josh Brownhill, Ashley Westwood, Robbie Brady; Jay Rodriguez, Chris Wood.

-

SUBS: Keinan Davis, Neil Taylor, Conor Hourihane, Frederic Guilbert, Jacob Ramsey, Jed Steer, Bjorn Engels.

-

ASTON VILLA (4-3-3): Emiliano Martinez, Tyrone Mings, Matt Targett, Ahmed El Mohamady, Kortney Hause; Jack Grealish, Marvelous Nakamba, John McGinn; Bertrand Traore, Ollie Watkins, Anwar El Ghazi.

-

These two sides have enjoyed contrasting starts to this campaign, with the hosts nine points better off, despite playing one less game. However, last time out, both teams were unexpected 1-0 victors against Wolves and Arsenal respectively.

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Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Premier League fixture between Aston Villa and Burnley.

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