Paul Lambert will take on his mentor Martin O'Neill as Aston Villa travel to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland on Saturday.

Both sides are in need of Premier League points, especially Villa who sit just one point above the bottom three having picked up just six points from their opening nine games.

Both sides go into the game following mixed results in the Capital One Cup in midweek. Villa made the quarter finals after scraping past Swindon, whilst Sunderland were dumped out by North East rivals Middlesbrough.

Both teams picked up a draw in their last Premier League outing, whilst both the fixtures between the sides last season ended in draws.

Aston Villa will welcome Joe Bennett back from a one-match ban, whilst Sunderland will leave it late to assess the fitness of Carlos Cuellar, who is hoping to play against his former club.

Prediction: Sunderland 1-0 Aston Villa