Mark Lawrenson disagrees with Paul Merson in Aston Villa vs Watford prediction

Aston Villa are back at Villa Park this afternoon as they look to move into the top half of the table.

The last outing saw Steven Gerrard ’s men fall to a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Newcastle United with Kieran Trippier’s free-kick proving to be the difference between the two sides.

The Villa manager labelled the performance against the Magpies as ‘complacent’ and will be looking for an improvement as they welcome another relegation-threatened side in Watford to Villa Park.

Roy Hodgson’s men currently sit in 19th position, six points adrift of safety.

The Hornets are winless since December 10, and former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson is tipping for that run to continue at Villa Park.

“Aston Villa were surprisingly passive in their defeat by Newcastle last weekend. Yes they were a bit unlucky to have a goal ruled out by VAR over such a marginal offside, but their threat really fizzled out afterwards,” he told BBC Sport .

“In fairness to Newcastle, that was partly because they managed to keep Coutinho quiet, which not many teams have managed since he joined Villa last month.

“No doubt Watford boss Roy Hodgson will try to come up with a plan to do the same, but he also needs to find a way of scoring.

“The Hornets haven't managed a goal in any of his three games in charge - and even if they break their duck on Saturday, at the moment it's hard to see where their next win is coming from.”

Former Premier League striker Michael Owen is in agreement over the result.

“I wouldn’t say Villa were bad against Newcastle, but it was a disappointing result, nonetheless,” he told BetVictor .

“They did have a contentious VAR decision go against them, but they didn’t really threaten Newcastle. With the attacking