Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Match Threads & Player Ratings => Topic started by: PeterWithesShin on June 20, 2020, 12:46:10 AM
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Villa Park 21st June 4.15pm KO.
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I think we will be a touch sharper than Chelsea. I might be clutching at straws here but you can always tell when a team is a week ahead in preseason friendlies. We've had a high intensity game under our belt now. Let's hope that's enough to turn Chelsea over.
This is from the post SU discussion and I agree with aj2k77!
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BBC
TEAM NEWS
Aston Villa right-back Frederic Guilbert could be involved after a knee injury but Bjorn Engels remains out.
Loanee Danny Drinkwater is ineligible to face his parent club.
Chelsea defender Fiikayo Tomori faces 10 days out because of a muscle injury, while Callum Hudson-Odoi is not fit enough to be involved and Jorginho must complete a two-match ban.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek is available for the first time since rupturing his Achilles 13 months ago.
LAWRO'S PREDICTION
Villa's first game back against Sheffield United would have been a great one for them to win given their situation but they did not really do enough.
Yes, they tried to get in and around the Blades but there was no massive urgency.
Dean Smith's side have an advantage in that they have already played once but I am backing Chelsea here. I don't think the Blues will have any problems creating chances, put it that way.
Prediction: 0-2
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
Aston Villa have lost nine of the past 10 league meetings, winning the other at home in March 2014.
Chelsea's current five-match winning league streak against Villa is their best in this fixture.
This is the 50th Premier League fixture between the clubs. Chelsea lead by 25 wins to Villa's 12, with 12 draws.
Aston Villa
Dean Smith's side have taken just two points from their last 21 games against the established top-six Premier League sides since beating Spurs away in April 2015.
Villa's midweek draw against Sheffield United ended a run of four straight league defeats.
They can keep consecutive top-flight clean sheets for the first time since goalless home draws against Sunderland and Crystal Palace in December 2014 and January 2015.
A win on Sunday would ensure Villa become just the second team in top-flight history to win a match on all seven days of the week within a season, emulating Tottenham in 1986-87.
Their only victory in the past eight league fixtures came at home to Watford on 21 January.
Chelsea
Chelsea haven't won any of their four Premier League away games in 2020 (D3, L1), having won seven of the previous nine.
The Blues have not won a Premier League match outside of London since beating Watford on 2 November.
They could register successive Premier League victories for only the second time this season. They won six in a row between September and November.
Frank Lampard' side have conceded 39 league goals in the current campaign, as many as in the whole of 2018-19.
Chelsea are vying to keep consecutive league clean sheets for the first time this season.
Lampard only won on four of his 16 Premier League visits to Villa Park as a player (D8, L4). He scored twice in a 2-1 victory on his last appearance there with Chelsea to become the club's all-time leading goalscorer.
Olivier Giroud has scored eight goals in his last six games against Aston Villa in all competitions, all while playing for Arsenal.
Tammy Abraham scored 26 goals in 40 appearances on loan at Villa last season.
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Wonder could Smith be tempted to drop AEG and go with Samatta up top with Davis? I was happy with how AEG played the other night but it's the kind of game we might need to go direct a bit more. Free up Grealish a bit more.
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2-1 Villa.
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We have to take advantage of the extra match fitness.
Lose this and I do not see us getting out of the relegation zone, a point keeps us alive but only just.
This is the situation that makes a mockery of the league and exactly the time you want a full Villa Park.
My prediction 1- 1.
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I hope we are not wide open in midfield but fear we can't play any other way. Will be another hard game for us but hope we are a bit fitter and can press Chelsea a bit more than we did with Sheffield United. I'm pleased they have no Hudson-Odoi or Jorginho. We need to start winning games, may as well start tomorrow.
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Wonder could Smith be tempted to drop AEG and go with Samatta up top with Davis? I was happy with how AEG played the other night but it's the kind of game we might need to go direct a bit more. Free up Grealish a bit more.
Yep, been having similar thoughts on us trying this. For me, AEG and Trez are as average as each other. They’re both capable but just don’t do it often enough.
Get Jack in the middle and let’s win some games.
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Do feel the fact that we've played a game is a big advantage. Need to start well.
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I have no confidence in this manager nor his squad - can't see where the next win is likely to come from - unfortunately I fear a few big losses.........Us Nil. Them Two or three :(
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Wonder could Smith be tempted to drop AEG and go with Samatta up top with Davis? I was happy with how AEG played the other night but it's the kind of game we might need to go direct a bit more. Free up Grealish a bit more.
I agree
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Need the points desperately but I have to go draw.
1-1 McGinn for us Tammy for them.
It all depends on other results but this could be it . Real fear that's it and down if we lose this one and not even get a point .
Team I think we could pick
Nyland
Elmo
Hause
Mings
Targett
McGinn
Hourihane
Grealish
El-Ghazi
Davis
Trezeguet
Guilbert and Engels I believe are injured and think Elmo may be in for Konsa. Don't want Nyland but I guess Dean keeps him on.
Would like Samatta up there too
Somehow please get a win because we have the extra match sharpness but thinking is draw at best. However never know and I'll still keep somehow hoping.
Give us the morale booster!
Come on Deano/ Villa please win though !!
Up the Villa!
Referee Paul Tierney - think he was our VAR man v Sheff U!!
VAR this time is Lee Mason.
Why would you drop Luiz? He was clearly motm on Wednesday.
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I wouldn’t drop AEG. He did well the other night and he is one of the few players who has pace.
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I would've hoped that with this little mini season Dean would have a crack at teams in order to survive but I think the pragmatist in him is still to the fore. We absolutely need to exploit the talent of Jack further forward and change the formation if needed, throwing caution to the wind in order to win a game would be my preference and may have made the difference on Wednesday had we gone with two up front. Fortune favours the brave.
The counter argument would be the value of a point and clean sheet, first game back and fitness etc etc but we really need wins rather than draws to stay afloat.
As ever I hope I'm barking up the wrong tree and Dean's approach leaves me with egg on my face come the end of July but I still have the fear at the moment.
0-2
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If we'd played Chelsea in mid March they'd have been without Tammy Abraham, Pulisic, Kovacic, Hudson Odoi and Kante.
All those back now although Kante's only been training a week so he may not start and Jorginho is suspended I think.
Have to hope 90 minutes of intensity will be a big advantage especially in last 20 minutes when players really feel things.
Personally I'd take McGinn out as he looked off the pace and I'd rather start him at Newcastle. It's important we have a few players capable of coming on and lifting the tempo as we didn't really have that on Wednesday so I'd leave El Ghazi out aswell.
Think I'll go with midfield of Nakamba-Luiz-Hourihane with Grealish in a free role behind front 2 of Davis and Samatta but not expecting DS to be that radical.
Would expect same backline as last game although the thought of their forward players running at Hause is a bit concerning.
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I would've hoped that with this little mini season Dean would have a crack at teams in order to survive but I think the pragmatist in him is still to the fore. We absolutely need to exploit the talent of Jack further forward and change the formation if needed, throwing caution to the wind in order to win a game would be my preference and may have made the difference on Wednesday had we gone with two up front. Fortune favours the brave.
The counter argument would be the value of a point and clean sheet, first game back and fitness etc etc but we really need wins rather than draws to stay afloat.
As ever I hope I'm barking up the wrong tree and Dean's approach leaves me with egg on my face come the end of July but I still have the fear at the moment.
0-2
The key to the better teams isn't really going gung ho though from the start.
We came out flying v Spurs and were brilliant for 20 minutes but could only score once and then Spurs starting picking us off towards the end of the first with simple balls over the top of the defence. Was same in the second with us clinging onto a point.
Most teams who got points off top 6/7 play a conservative first hour, make sure it's still 0-0 and then start exploiting the gaps left when the top team pushes on to try to win.
I'm pretty sure Watford-Liverpool was 0-0 up to 55 minutes and then Watford scored three times in 15 minutes. Newcastle kept Chelsea at bay comfortably and then won it in 94th minute although they got lucky.
We really run out of steam in games so I'd rather we paced ourselves and make sure we're constantly switched on at the back and don't give cheap goals away.
We did that well on Wednesday. Problem was at 70th minute we simply didn't have the subs to give us a final push. Aside from his goal v Leicester Trez is about as far away form an impact sub as you can get and Samatta seemed out of it so I'd probably leave McGinn out as he's someone who could give us a spark in last twenty.
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Really is a case of Now or Never - the draw against SU will be ok if we beat Chelsea but lose and it’s certainly curtains given we have even tougher fixtures coming up. Dean has to show balls and really fo all out here IMO - 3-5-2 with both Samatta and Davis causing trouble up front creating some space for Grealish and SJM to do their stuff.
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I really can’t see a Villa win but hope I’m wrong. I’d like to see Davis and Samatta up front together but doubt Dean will change much.
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We'll play ok but struggle to create anything. 0-1
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Slow,passive performance from us as usual and they'll get a few goals
0-3 Tammy to score twice all but confirming our relegation
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Slow,passive performance from us as usual and they'll get a few goals
0-3 Tammy to score twice all but confirming our relegation
Do you ever say anything positive, ever?
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Massive win for Brighton today. We need to do the same tomorrow. Beating the likes of Chelsea would bring a lot of momentum and belief.
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Our attack is non-existent, Grealish will spend the majority of the match retrieving the ball deep in defence because he won't be seeing much of it with Kante about and the defence (Hause every weekend btw) will almost certainly gift them a goal, 0-3 loss.
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Kante is out isn't he?
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He’s back in training. I imagine at best he will be on the bench.
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0-2.
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One of the main problems has been a sense of urgency from the players at times, and obviously a clinical edge infront of goal :P
I'm not sure how they practice corners, but I think we have only scored 1 maybe 2 from them?
Other than these gripes, it would nice if Luiz could get another of his screamers.
If we can hold shape, we have a better chance.
As for Brighton, they have the belief that we need to get.
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One of the main problems has been a sense of urgency from the players at times, and obviously a clinical edge infront of goal :P
I'm not sure how they practice corners, but I think we have only scored 1 maybe 2 from them?
Other than these gripes, it would nice if Luiz could get another of his screamers.
If we can hold shape, we have a better chance.
As for Brighton, they have the belief that we need to get.
The corner thing drives me mad. Look at the size of Mings. He should be scoring for fun.
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It’s a small sample size, but more away wins than home wins so far since the restart. The only team to lose away has been Arsenal ... twice. The jury is out on Behind closed doors home advantage. Will we get a better opportunity to win away at Chelsea?
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It’s a small sample size, but more away wins than home wins so far since the restart. The only team to lose away has been Arsenal ... twice. The jury is out on Behind closed doors home advantage. Will we get a better opportunity to win away at Chelsea?
It's at VP.
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It’s a small sample size, but more away wins than home wins so far since the restart. The only team to lose away has been Arsenal ... twice. The jury is out on Behind closed doors home advantage. Will we get a better opportunity to win away at Chelsea?
It's at VP.
If we go to Stamford Bridge we might manage not to concede.
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Kante is out isn't he?
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says N'Golo Kante is "happy and as fit as anyone else" ahead of their Premier League return away at Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
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It’s a small sample size, but more away wins than home wins so far since the restart. The only team to lose away has been Arsenal ... twice. The jury is out on Behind closed doors home advantage. Will we get a better opportunity to win away at Chelsea?
It's at VP.
So the answer to the question is yes, we will get a better opportunity to win away at Chelsea.
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It’s a small sample size, but more away wins than home wins so far since the restart. The only team to lose away has been Arsenal ... twice. The jury is out on Behind closed doors home advantage. Will we get a better opportunity to win away at Chelsea?
It's at VP.
Yeah, but apart from that...
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Kante is out isn't he?
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard says N'Golo Kante is "happy and as fit as anyone else" ahead of their Premier League return away at Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
I'm really impressed that you went to Frank and checked for us. Well played sir! Shame he's fit. Another quality player.
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I can’t see us winning no way, but hang on 1-0
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Willian torched Targett in the game at Stanford Bridge. Big decision to be made with McGinn, I'd hold him in reserve but think Smith will start him over Hourihane with Nakamba coming in. Not a fan of Konsa but Hause will be completely exposed at RCB if Smith tries that again. With Davis up top we shouldn't be shy about going direct
--------------Nyland
Elmo, Konsa, Mings, Targett
Luiz, Nakamba, McGinn
------------Grealish
------Samatta, Davis
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Willian torched Targett in the game at Stanford Bridge. Big decision to be made with McGinn, I'd hold him in reserve but think Smith will start him over Hourihane with Nakamba coming in. Not a fan of Konsa but Hause will be completely exposed at RCB if Smith tries that again. With Davis up top we shouldn't be shy about going direct
--------------Nyland
Elmo, Konsa, Mings, Targett
Luiz, Nakamba, McGinn
------------Grealish
------Samatta, Davis
I like that team but I’d have Hourihane instead of Nakamba.
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I’m convinced we are gonna win today 2-1
It’s time we beat one of these perceived top teams & we will hopefully capitalise on their rustiness
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I bet it’s 4 3 3 with Grealish on the wing.
Predictable.
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Great news, Drinkwater is unavailable!
Seven-nil to Villa.
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I bet it’s 4 3 3 with Grealish on the wing.
Predictable.
Unfortunately yes
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0-0 again I reckon, it might be a small advantage that we already have played a few days ago.
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I hope the extra game we have played gives us a bit of an edge over them. We did seem to settle into the game the other day better than Sheff Utd did. Like Postal said earlier, we need a bit of belief.
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Willian torched Targett in the game at Stanford Bridge. Big decision to be made with McGinn, I'd hold him in reserve but think Smith will start him over Hourihane with Nakamba coming in. Not a fan of Konsa but Hause will be completely exposed at RCB if Smith tries that again. With Davis up top we shouldn't be shy about going direct
--------------Nyland
Elmo, Konsa, Mings, Targett
Luiz, Nakamba, McGinn
------------Grealish
------Samatta, Davis
Willian saved his best game of the season for our visit to Chelsea. He bossed that game. We could do with him being out. But they have quality in depth so we're up against it. Keep it tight,cut out the defensive and keeper brain farts and we might just sneak a win. It's the hope that kills ya though.
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Slow,passive performance from us as usual and they'll get a few goals
0-3 Tammy to score twice all but confirming our relegation
Do you ever say anything positive, ever?
That's a bit unfair, he once made a statement saying he wouldn't be posting on here for the foreseeable future.
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I hope the extra game we have played gives us a bit of an edge over them. We did seem to settle into the game the other day better than Sheff Utd did. Like Postal said earlier, we need a bit of belief.
No no no. You don’t understand how this is supposed to work.
If the opposition have played an extra game they’ll be sharper than us.
If the opposition have played a game less than us they’ll be fresher.
If they haven’t won an away game for ages they’re due a win.
If we haven’t won for ages then that run will continue.
Only doom is permitted.
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Would love a win, that would be massive for us and our confidence but would take a point if offered now. This and Wolves are our 2 hardest games left (assuming 'The Mighty Reds YNWA' have won the league by the time we play them).
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I can see Chelsea beating us easy here, maybe it’s the hangover talking but they can really see them exposing our defence.
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I can see Chelsea beating us easy here, maybe it’s the hangover talking but they can really see them exposing our defence.
Better have the hair of the dog to get you through the game!
0 - I dread to think :'(
Tammy to inevitably score...
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I don't feel too confident about this one, going to have to go with 2-0 Chelsea. Hope we can be solid like in midweek and nick something.
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Hoping the extra game will help, but sadly have to go Chelsea win.
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Nyland
Targett
Mings
Konsa
Elmo
Nakamba
Luiz
Grealish
McGinn
El Ghazi
Samatta
2-1 win, Samatta and Mings for us, Willian for them
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--------------Nyland
Elmo, Konsa, Mings, Targett
Luiz, Nakamba, McGinn
------------Grealish
------Samatta, Davis
There's so much balance to that team. Defence is supported, midfield solid and threatening in attack.
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1-3 Chelsea, which should put paid to this travesty, I mean Watford take a point of 3rd place Leicester and Arsenal get beaten by Brighton, at this point in the season or games played, under normal circumstances, absolute joke, of course its always possible.
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We need two up top and I hope it's Aly and KD
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--------------Nyland
Elmo, Konsa, Mings, Targett
Luiz, Nakamba, McGinn
------------Grealish
------Samatta, Davis
There's so much balance to that team. Defence is supported, midfield solid and threatening in attack.
Yes I'd like to see two strikers. I think Davis and Samatta could form a Heskey & Owen type partnership.
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--------------Nyland
Elmo, Konsa, Mings, Targett
Luiz, Nakamba, McGinn
------------Grealish
------Samatta, Davis
There's so much balance to that team. Defence is supported, midfield solid and threatening in attack.
Seconded. This would be my starting 11. El ghazi shouldn’t be starting. We would be much better with 2 up front. Jack central and just behind them.
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But, I fear that we'll be going with the starting 11 from last Wednesday.
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It's not the side I'd pick to face Chelsea. In some of our upcoming games, yes, but not this one.
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Defensively it's as strong as it could be, Hilts. What and where would you change?
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The extra game hasnt helped Arsenal or Sheff Utd (so far)