Petrov is back from suspension, but Collins looks doubtful again as he was in pain at the end of training. Dunne may not play after the two grueling games against France and the obvious heartbreak that came from the hands of Henry. Literally.

My predictions are a Villa win, but its going to be tough, very very tough.

Match report after the game.

R x

Team news is as expected, should have the same squad available we had at Villa Park last week, unsure whether MON will play a 4-4-2 again, or go with the 4-5-1, really thought it was gonna be our downfall last week playing the 4-4-2 against a club like Chelsea, but what do I know. Wolves away is a completely different kettle of fish, but we need goals, something we are lacking this season, we’ve only let in 7 goals all season, but our goal difference is the lowest of all the top clubs. This game could be great for Carew (or dare I say it Heskey) to get a couple on the score sheet, It’s a wide pitch, Young and Milner should enjoy the width and be able to put some great crosses in for our big guys up front to get a hold of.

My prediction is 2-0 to Villa, but I would love to see us push a 3 or 4-0 and show our rivals we’ve got the attack to go with our rock solid defence.

R x

Follow me on Twitter : http://www.twitter.com/StagediveRy

Villa Park will need to be our fortress this year, isnt it beautiful…

Match Preview After the Jump!

The pre-season ended well for MON and his men. They went on and won the Peace Cup after a penalty shoot-out against Juventus (with some superb goalkeeping by my boy Guz) and defeated Fiorentina at home 1-0. They also went out and signed Habib Beye and Fabian Delph. Habib is a versatile defender and Villa got him on the cheap. In my last post I also called for him to be signed, so that makes me happy Fabian Delph looks to be quite a prospect and he should blend in well with our talented youngsters. He should get a great chance, especially with the questionable availability of Stiliyan Petrov. In addition, I think the youngsters will definitely get looks tomorrow, with some of them seeing significant time after particularly impressive pre-seasons.

Wigan has had a disappointing offseason so far, with both their manager and some key players departing for greener pastures. Their defense is still relatively intact and they will bunker down and play as physical as ever. Chris Kirkland is a solid keeper and I predict he will have to be at his best as Villa will lay siege to his net. With all of this being said, I can’t look beyond us for this game. Wigan are one of the favorites to go down this season and I think starting against them at Villa Park will be a great way to begin the year. Here is my predicted lineup:

-Friedel (although Guzan has been great and I could see him here too)-

-Lichaj, Davies, Cuellar, N. Shorey-

-Reo-Coker-

-Milner- -*Petrov- -A. Young-

-Gabby- -Heskey-

* If Petrov can’t go, I would like to see Sidwell here but it could be Gardner too.
Also, I think Reo-Coker or Gardner could slide back into the RB spot if MON is not completely ready to throw Lichaj into the fire.

Well there we go folks! I will be watching the game and if I can figure out how to do the live blog thingy, maybe I will get that going for some of the big matches.
!!TOM HANKS SAYS GO VILLA!!

Today Villa played in the Peace Cup today and apparently they defeated Atlante 3-1 with goals from Marc Albrighton, John Carew, and Ashley Young. I didn’t have a chance to watch the match but from the reports I have read they came from 1 down and scored 3 unanswered to secure their spot in the semi-finals on Friday night. Porto now await them after an impressive win against OL. A friendly is a friendly so I don’t take too much stock in this result but unfortunately Stiliyan Petrov came off injured. He was diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder and he should miss a few weeks, hopefully to be back by the beginning of the season. I would love to bring a little bit of insight on how the team looks right now, but since I didnt have a chance to see the game, I’ll leave the conclusions to you!

Now on to how our team looks on paper:

GOALKEEPERS

There is not much to say which hasn’t been said already. In my opinion, this is the strongest part of our team. Bradley Friedel will be the starter come Matchday 1, but Brad Guzan has put in some impressive performances as of late and we should expect to see some split time as the season progresses. For me, a good keeper is a luxury, not a necessity. Unfortunately our strength at keeper will keep us in a few games, maybe win a game or two, but it will not make or break the season for the Villains. Again, the goalkeeper position is great for us to have depth at, but its the men in front of the net who are going to either help us crack the top four or keep us mired in the Europa League.

DEFENSE

As of today, Villa Park has only seen transfers out of the back four and the squad is in desperate need of some reinforcements, especially on the wings. Currently our only established wing backs are Luke Young on the right and Nickey Shorey (who was not impressive last year) on the left. And really the only two we have in the middle are Curtis Davies and Carlos Cuellar, with Carlos not being a regular last year in the middle. It is obvious that we are weak along the back line, and with MON insisting that the lack of depth hurt Villa down the stretch last season, I would love to see some of the Barry money spent in the back. With the retirement of Martin Laursen and the recent sale of Zat Knight, we are currently down two centre-backs and we have no proven back-ups at any position. Obviously the return of Wilfred Bouma will give the squad a solid player who can play at multiple positions, but he has not played in a long time and it will take him match practice to get back to the player he used to be. Villa have recently been associated with some defenders in the transfer rumors lately, but nothing has come to fruition. Last year, Craig Gardner and Nigel Reo-Coker both filled in admirably at the back, but they are not natural defenders. After the loss of two more centre-backs, MON NEEDS to go out into the transfer market. I would like to see someone like Gianni Zuiverloon of West Brom, or Habib Beye or Sebastien Bassong of Newcastle step into the fold at Villa Park. There are some promising youngsters within the club and they are seeing plenty of time in the pre-season, but we still lack depth and this must be addressed ASAP.

What do you think? Let me know!

Next Up: Midfield

Pic: Ole Ole

Seems like an age since our last match, but the humiliation still remains, and it could possibly get worse since our next challenge is facing the champions. Although saying that, Manchester United have numerous key players out, either on suspension or through injuries, but since the quality is so deep at United, this is still going to be a VERY tough match, with our last win at Old Trafford being the year I was born!

Premier League Form Guide

Aston Villa: WLDLLL

Loss, loss, loss. Doesn’t look great does it? Could it be a fourth? If we lose and Arsenal win their match, its going to be near impossible to finish in the top four, and with Everton so close, we may not even improve on last seasons rankings. BUT if we draw or win, and if Arsenal draw or lose, it will be just the kind of lift we need to give a final push for a fourth spot, the leagues not all over yet.

Manchester United: WWWWLL

Two losses would normally mean the team are out of form, but I’m not sure that is the case with Manchester United, they will be hungry for a win, and will go all out to get it, especially since they are at home.

Team News

Friedel will be playing after his recent red card has now been rescinded, and Bouma (who I hoped would play last week) has now played three successful reserve matches, and could be just the boost we need. Abonglahor is back since Heskey is out injured, and the strike force team from the start of the season are back together.

No Rooney, Scholes, Vidic, Berbatov, Anderson, Brown, Hargreaves, and maybe even no Ferdinand for Manchester United, good sign for Villa, although like I said earlier, United has such a strong team, this is almost irrelevant.

Why Manchester United away is a must-win

This is the business end of the season, and for any chance to break into the top four, this needs to be a win, or possibly a draw, but both are HUGE asks of our boys.

I cant wait for this match, lets hope for a massive upset this weekend!

By the way, comments are always welcome!

Pic: Team Talk

This maybe, hopefully will be our turning point, although looking at both clubs form, I’m sure the bookies will have a Villa win at something like 100/1. Coming from a MASSIVE win at Manchester United, Liverpool will be flying high, but I guess that will take some of the pressure off our boys. The second half of the season the fans have expected villa to win every match, and if we don’t, boo’s and hisses all round, when in reality, this has been an outstanding season for Villa. But this match away at Anfield, anyone would expect Villa to lose. I personally think we can do it, back to winning ways, beginning of the season stuff, Carew and Abonglahor up front, Bouma back in defence, L.Young playing where he should, with Cuellar and Knight in central defence. I can’t wait for this match.

Premier League Form Guide

Aston Villa: DWLDLL

After the poor run we’ve been having we are now fifth, the first time in a long time, level on points with Arsenal, but behind on goal difference, we’ve got a lot to do. Arsenal are currently winning 3 – 1 as I write this, but Manchester United and Chelsea have both lost, proving anything is possible in the beautiful game.

Liverpool: WWDLWW

Liverpool are right on form, thrashing Manchester United and Real Madrid in the same week, and with the only other two real contenders for the title losing this weekend Liverpool will be pulling all the strings to close the gap on Manchester United.

Team News

We could be seeing a few faces we haven’t seen for a while coming out of the tunnel for this match, Bouma (fingers crossed) could make an appearance, along with Steve Sidwell, and if I had anything to do with it, Carew would be starting.

Alonso could be making an appearance after a slight calf strain has had him sidelined, but Benayoun and Degen are both out.

Why Liverpool away is a must-win

After being chased by Arsenal for a while, we are now chasing them, and after their win today, they now are three points clear, and even though I’m under no illusion this game is going to be near impossible, it certainly ISNT impossible, the fans need to get behind our boys as best they can against the Kop lot, and I think we might have a chance, no matter how slight it is!

If we really want to be top four material, these are the kinds of games we need to win.

Following a disastrous collapse at home to Stoke City on Sunday, Martin O’Neill faces possibly the biggest challenge of his tenure when he tries to pick the team up for yet another pivotal match. At the time of writing, Arsenal – our main competition for that all-important fourth position – are winning 3-1 at the Hawthorns, so the chances are they will be just three points behind Villa when we step out at Manchester City tomorrow night.

Make no mistake, equalling or bettering Arsenal’s result this week is absolutely critical. To do that, we’re really going to have to see what our boys are made of.

Team News

We’re in pretty decent nick for tomorrow’s match, all told. Emile Heskey looks very likely to miss out with an Achilles injury, but I’d hazard a guess that John Carew would’ve been given a start following Sunday’s stunning strike. Martin Laursen is well on the road to recovery, and Wilfred Bouma played 90 minutes for the reserves last night, but both have missed this one by a few weeks.

Nigel Reo-Coker, now fit, or Craig Gardner must surely be in line for a start at right back after Carlos Cuellar’s appalling performance against Stoke. Apart from that, I don’t anticipate any changes, so Luke Young, Curtis Davies and Zat Knight will form the back line with Ashley Young, Gareth Barry, Stiliyan Petrov and James Milner in midfield.

Micah Richards is a “major doubt” thanks to a hamstring injury, but the big news from Eastlands this week has been knee injuries picked up by Craig Bellamy and Robinho against West Ham United at the weekend. Obviously this is positive news for Villa, being City’s in-form striker and creator-in-chief. But it’s important not to get carried away. They might not have clicked, but Manchester City still have players capable of hurting teams.

Valeri Bojinov, injured warming up at Villa Park in August, could make his return.

Men to Watch

Following a great goal on Sunday, and his general quality all season, I’m going to say City need to keep an eye out for Stiliyan Petrov tomorrow night. He’s more than capable of bossing the midfield, and can link up beautifully with Gareth Barry to provide the base for Villa’s attacks. Petrov blocks and intercepts like nobody’s business, and plays with more urgency than a lot of his colleagues. He can also almost match Barry for passing quality. Great player, I’m chuffed he’s found his form.

For City, Stephen Ireland is a real shining light. He’s got plenty of goals in him, and has a creative touch far beyond his years. I’d love to have him at Villa, and it’s essential that we contain him at Eastlands tomorrow.

Prediction

Well, we’ve won in the face of all sorts of adversity on the road this season, and I’ve got a strange feeling we might just sneak it. Villa are vulnerable to clinical, powerful finishers like Bellamy and skilled individuals such as Robinho. With those two absent, we might just be able to hold our own at the back and benefit on the break. 1-0 Villa.

For this game, your old pal Martin Banks and I have done a preview swap to give you a little variety. Here’s his preview for your reading pleasure – I’ll post the one I wrote for Aston Villa Blog later (i.e. when I’m not so fecking busy).

Chris

Hi all, it’s Martin Banks here with today’s match preview. Some of you may remember me from my stint here at the Offside, so a big hello to those who do. I’m now with a Villa-only blog, but for today’s preview me and Chris (Chris and I to the teachers out there!) have decided to guest on each other’s in a little bit of blog-swapping action. It’s a little bit like wife swapping with a little less complications but not quite as much fun.

Premier League Form Guide

Aston Villa: WWDWLD

With Arsenal winning last night (who didn’t see that coming?!) Villa are now far from safe in the top four unless we get back to winning ways. This game has taken on even more importance thanks to our final-minutes deterioration against Stoke. Villa need to recover from this dip in form which has seen us not win a single game in 5, in all competitions. We’ve had our fair share of bad press and criticism, now it’s time to answer it with a win.

Manchester City: WLWLDL

At the beginning of the season, suddenly Man City became the richest club in the world. I blinked and missed it! So they went on a bit of a spree to bring in some HUGE players. It all hinged on the Kaka deal, but that didn’t go through so they resorted to buying the kind of players they can attract easily. Which is by no means bad, just not Kaka standard. As the fuss died down over Kaka, it all kicked off over Mark Hughes’s position as Man City struggled in the bottom half of the league. But a good run has got them to mid table and eased the pressure. They remain very inconsistent though so a prediction is hard to make until you see which Man City is out tonight.

Team News

Villa are likely to field pretty much the same team as against Stoke, but Carew will likely start as MON would be a hypocrit to Capello if he played Heskey. It would be nice to see him bring Shorey in, switch Young to right back and maybe drop Knight for Cuellar, but O’Neill is stuck in his ways and unlikely to make many changes.

There’s also a large part of me that wants to see Gabby benched, in place of Delfouneso, as he has missed far too many easy chances of late and I’d love to see what the Fonz is capable of with a start in a full strength team.

It’ll be hard work for Barry and Petrov tonight but it’s those 2 who need to have a good game, to get us in control of the game.

For Man City, the big news is that Bellamy and Robinho will not be fit to play tonight, which is great news for us. Bellamy was West Ham’s only threat earlier in the season, and with a better team around him, he could’ve potentially caused us problems tonight. Robinho could also have been a major threat as neither Davies nor Knight are good for pace.

Why Manchester City away is a must-win

Because we can now feel Arsenal’s breath on the back of our necks. If we lose then we’re within one more bad result of going 5th. We’ve worked too hard to throw it all away at the end, so tonight is of massive importance.

As said, it’s a hard one to predict but I’m going ot plump for a 2-1 Villa win.

Pic: Yardflex

Given the moaning of a section of Villa supporters – even booing Martin O’Neill in Moscow – perhaps they’d like to offer the more switched-on Villa fans their tickets for any Champions League games we may get to play next year. Yes, some flew to Moscow, but that’s not a licence to act like utter dirt. Scum. With that in mind, they presumably don’t understand the importance of tomorrow’s game against Stoke City

Premier League Form Guide

Aston Villa: WWWDWL

Villa sit in fourth, six points ahead of Arsenal, thanks to a stunning run of (occasionally fortunate) form over the winter. But last weekend we fell to our first defeat in the league since early November. Chelsea’s 1-0 win was as much down to new manager syndrome as to the Blues’ disgraceful time-wasting and Mark Halsey’s appalling refereeing. I still regard our form as good, but we must beat Stoke tomorrow for it to get back on track.

Stoke City: DLLWLD

Stoke are in a precarious position, one spot outside the drop zone, just three points from the bottom and only two ahead of Blackburn and Middlesbrough. Depending on West Bromwich Albion’s result against Everton (currently 1-0 to the Toffees), that situation could be worse by the time the three o’clocks kick off this afternoon. A magnificent win over Manchester City was a bright spot, but defeats to Spurs, Chelsea and Sunderland did some damage. The last six games were rounded out by draws at Liverpool and at home to Portsmouth.

Team News

Villa are back up to a decent level of strength, and will put out the strongest possible team after resting seven or eight in Moscow. Carlos Cuellar and Nigel Reo-Coker are back up to speed, and John Carew should be fit after missing out against CSKA. Brad Friedel, Gareth Barry, Ashley Young, James Milner, Stan Petrov, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey will all start.

For Stoke, Rory Delap and Matthew Etherington are suspended. Ricardo Fuller has been out injured, but it looks like he might make a return. Former Villa target James Beattie will play, and he’s on fine form.

Why Stoke at home is a must-win

Firstly, it should go some way to shutting up all the moaning wankers. But it’s also true to say that O’Neill’s decision this week was down to the absolute necessity to win more games than not between now and the rest of the season. The Champions League is a must.

I’m going to go slightly against the grain and say that I’ve enjoyed Stoke’s presence in the Premier League this season. But it’d be nice to get a drop of revenge too, after they beat us in August.

Betting

We’ll win, and the whingers will be back on the bandwagon.

Pic: Topnews

In Premier League football, matches don’t come any bigger than this. With Manchester United turning the ‘big four’ into a big one, the real battle is between the pretenders: Liverpool, Villa, Chelsea and Arsenal. While Liverpool and Chelsea have second in their sights (even though their tedious arrogance means they won’t amend expectations), Villa would end the season now if the possibility were offered. Make no mistake, this match could make and break our season. But it could do the same for Chelsea.

Premier League Form Guide

Aston Villa: WWWWDW

Villa have not been defeated in the Premier League since November 9th, when Middlesbrough came to Villa Park, but we tasted domestic defeat for the first time since then last Sunday, being knocked out of the FA Cup by Everton. Recent wins over Sunderland, Portsmouth and Blackburn Rovers have buoyed the mood at Villa, but we dropped two points at home to Wigan. On Wednesday, CSKA Moscow came to England and were exceptionally lucky to escape with a score draw.

Chelsea: DLWWLD

Chelsea’s poor form over recent months finally did for Luiz Felipe Scolari this month. Defeat to Manchester United and Liverpool did little to help Chelsea’s withering title chase, but it was draws with Fulham and Hull City that called their fight for second into question. Stoke City and Middlesbrough have recently been beaten in the league, Southend United and Watford in the FA Cup.

Team News

Brad Friedel will slot back into the goal for Villa after sitting out Wednesday’s draw with CSKA. Emile Heskey and James Milner are both hoping to be fit for Chelsea’s visit, while Martin Laursen, Nigel Reo-Coker, Carlos Cuellar and Freddie Bouma are all out. It’ll be interesting to see what Martin O’Neill does with the full backs. With Chelsea’s wide threat variously totally non-existent or absolutely spellbinding, it’s hard to predict whether to switch Luke Young back to left back with Craig Gardner at right, or keep Young right to keep that side strong, with Nicky Shorey playing left.

I think Gardner will get the nod.

Chelsea will be without left back Ashley Cole, who misses out suspension. They may also be missing Alex and Ricardo Carvalho through injury. Michael Mancienne is expected to feature at centre back, but Branislav Ivanovic is another possibility. John Terry returns from suspension.

Why Chelsea at home is a must-win

Because this, quite simply, is our biggest match for years. We need to win in order to cement our position in the fight for fourth – or third. This is a real acid test for the Villa, and could be a real turning point for both clubs. Three points would be a massive confidence boost for either.

Sadly, we also now need to win to stop two of our players, John Carew and Stiliyan Petrov, from looking like a pair of clowns following their attempts to wind up the Chelsea team. When are we going to learn? Martin O’Neill’s been victim to some ludicrously misleading journalism this week – typical pro-London bollocks from the London-based shitrags – but John and Stan have dropped a real clanger.

Does new manager syndrome apply when the opposition provides the team talk?

Betting

Don’t ask me why, but I’ve got a great feeling abou this match. 2-1 Villa win. Mark Halsey won’t like that, it will mean the cheating bastard hasn’t achieved his objective. Pug-nosed scumbag. Come on you Lions!