Aston Villa secured a 3-3 draw at home against one of their relegation rivals – Queens Park Rangers – and this result was largely down to the brilliance of striker Christian Benteke. He scored his second Aston Villa hat-trick to help the club get at least a point from the encounter.

After having been injured for much of the season, Benteke has been making a huge difference in the last few matches. He has already taken his tally to seven goals in the last five matches, but none were more important than the three at Villa Park during the weekend.

After having secured the lead early on in the match, Villa were in danger of throwing away this good position after QPR were leading in the second half through goals from Charlie Austin and Hill, though the betting (Link for online betting for UK customers) suggestes they would hold on. Villa were chasing the game in need of an equaliser and it came through Benteke with seven minutes of normal time remaining.

The result keeps Villa three points above the relegation zone after they witnessed Burnley also get a point during the weekend, and they are one of the best football bets (Link for online betting for non-UK customers) to avoid relegation. Since Sherwood came to the club, Villa have lost only two matches in the last five. Yet, they remain perilously close to the drop zone due to other teams also taking points.

"Christian was very good. The second goal especially was excellent. We need him between now and the end of the season, but it was disappointing to give away cheap, scruffy goals. It might be a very important point. Only time will tell, but we need to win games. I wouldn't like to guess how many points we're going to need. It is a point in the right direction though. I couldn't fault the performance. There was fatigue in the second half and we dropped off, but you expect that,” said the Villa manager.