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Dean Smith confident of Aston Villa survival

:Headline: Dean Smith confident of Aston Villa survival: ID:403226: from db_amp
Villa have not netted in their last three Premier League games.

Dean Smith believes Aston Villa have got the firepower to survive in the Premier League.

Villa have failed to score in their last three league games – before and after the coronavirus break – as they battle relegation.

Captain Jack Grealish is top scorer with seven and Wesley – out for the season with a knee injury – has got five.

Villa have netted just 34 times in 29 games and are second bottom ahead of Sunday's visit of Chelsea having drawn a blank in Wednesday's 0-0 draw with Sheffield United.

But Smith remains confident they can score the goals to stay up.

He said: "If you look at the team who are going to win the league (Liverpool) I'm not sure (Roberto) Firmino has got loads but there are other players in that system and squad who score and that's what we're looking for.

"You're not just relying on your number nine getting the goals. Wesley got five before the injury and if you're number nine is getting you 12 or 13 goals in his first season it's not a bad return.

"What we've done – certainly against Sheffield United – was create enough opportunities to score goals.

"We've got players in our team, Jack Grealish, Anwar El Ghazi, Trezeguet, Conor Hourihane who can score and John McGinn is a goal-scoring midfielder and we looked dangerous from set-pieces.

"I'm not sure the opposition defenders will want to be defending corners against Kortney Hause, Keinan Davis and Tyrone Mings. I think goals will come."

“You're not just relying on your number nine getting the goals”
- Dean Smith

Villa have lost every game against the top four sides this season, conceding 21 goals in six games.

They were beaten 2-1 at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season and Smith insisted there should be no surprises facing Frank Lampard's side.

He added: "We'll have an idea of their squad and the shape. As Chris Wilder said before our game (against Sheffield United), there aren't too many surprises going to be thrown out.

"We know each other's squads because nothing's changed within our squads. We'll have a good idea of who we're going to be facing."

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1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Crystal Palace121561017-78
19Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
20Southampton11119721-144
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