Blackburn returned to winning ways by beating Nottingham Forest in the Carling Cup but Rovers now need to improve in the Premier League as well. Aston Villa, on the other hand, continued the impressive winning run but we are yet to see if they can even extend it.

Aston Villa enter this match on the back of five straight wins and they are definitely favourites in this match even though Martin O’Neill is set to ring some changes. Cardiff, on the other hand, are very inconsistent lately but they will certainly try to make a surprise at Villa Park and thus kick-start their season.

The derby win over Birmingham could be just what Aston Villa needed to kick-start their season and they are now aiming to extend the winning run. Portsmouth remained at rock bottom after the fifth successive defeat and things are definitely looking bleak for Pompey.

Birmingham enter the Midlands derby after the defeat at White Hart Lane and the Blues are now looking to return to winning ways. Aston Villa have recovered well from the disappointments at the start of the season and they will try to record the third successive league win.

The two teams were involved in the Europa League on Thursday, but as Fulham managed to beat Amkar 3:2 on aggregate, Aston Villa were dealt with a big blow having been eliminated by Rapid Wien. The visitors, therefore, enter the match in much better spirits but that doesn’t have to mean anything.

Rapid Wien shocked Aston Villa in the first leg having won 1:0 but they are still in for a difficult task at Villa Park. The Villans have just beaten Liverpool at Anfield and that could be just the boost they needed to turn this tie around.

This game will be played on Monday, thus Aston Villa will have enough time to recover from the Europa League defeat to Rapid Wien. Both sides have lost their opening games, but Liverpool managed to recover by beating Stoke 4:0 and they definitely enter the match in better spirits.

Rapid had big problems in the last qualifying stage against Cypriot side APOP Kinuras and they only went through after penalties. Aston Villa, on the other hand, are hot favourites here as they will use this game to make amends for the opening defeat to Wigan in the Premier League.

Aston Villa missed a good chance to break the Big 4 last season and they will have much more difficult job this term. The Villans are still very much involved in the transfer market but they have to start a season with what they’ve got. Wigan are definitely weaker than last season and they could even enter the relegation fight.

Aston Villa drew with Middlesbrough last weekend and they now need to beat Newcastle in order to leapfrog Everton in the standings and thus end the season in fifth place. Newcastle are in much more difficult position as maybe not even a win at Villa Park would be enough for them to avoid the drop.