Aston Villa v Newcastle: 5 Key Battles

4. Cheick Tiote vs Fabian Delph Fabian Delph has had a unprecedentedly excellent start to the season for Villa and will look to carry that form into this game. He is the creative element that links their midfield to their attack and his performances so far this year have come in for widespread praise. There is a large section of fans that believe Delph can't be too far from getting called up to Roy Hodgson's England team. Delph also provides some bite and tempo to the Villa engine room, he is quick, nimble and pressurises very effectively. With the Villa faithful backing him today he could well be the player pulling the strings for the home side. This is where Cheick Tiote comes into play, if he is deployed. He will be the mop cleaning up in front of the defence. His task will be to break up the passages of play that Delph will be putting together for the Villa forwards. It won't be an easy task as Delph will challenge Tiote with his pace and passing ability. For Newcastle to get anything out of this game they will need to put a spanner in the Villa engine room and on his day Tiote can be just that spanner. Recently all too often he has failed to live up to his performances of the 11-12 season a return to that sort of form would be very much welcomed by the Geordie faithful.