Aston Villa expert's inside view points to battle Newcastle United have to win

Newcastle United will be hoping to secure a third consecutive Premier League win when Aston Villa visit St James' Park but may be facing a freshened up Villans side.

Steven Gerrard's side went toe-to-toe with the famously energetic Leeds United in midweek and ran themselves into the ground to match the intensity of their opponents in a frenetic 3-3 draw.

As a team, Villa ran more in the 90 minutes against Leeds than they had in any previous game under Gerrard and the Villa boss hinted at a reshuffle of his starting XI for the trip to Tyneside after the game.

It is currently unclear how many changes Gerrard will make, or if he will even make any that are not forced, but there will definitely be no place in the stating XI for the suspended Ezri Konsa.

BirminghamLive's Aston Villa writer Ashley Preece has attempted to predict the XI Gerrard will select and has tipped recent recruit Calum Chambers to step in for Konsa.

He has also predicted a change in midfield, including Morgan Sanson in the XI in place of Douglas Luiz after the Brazilian underwhelmed in the midweek draw with Leeds.

The centre of midfield will be a key battleground at St James' Park and if the Magpies can win the battle there, they will be well-placed to clinch three points.

Even though Leeds were without their midfield general Kalvin Phillips, Villa found themselves in a wrestle for control in the centre and lost their grip on more than one occasion.

Their inability to take control allowed Rodrigo to wreak havoc in an advanced midfield role and a similar display from the Villans at St James' Park could prove fatal.

In Newcastle's recent 3-1 win over Everton, their midfield three consisted of Joe Willock, Jonjo Shelvey and Joelinton, all of which possess