Aston Villa v Manchester City Pre-Match Thread

[Chris Jameson]

Bent to miss the game and then be ruled out for rest of season after training ground injury sustained when Heskey fell on him.

[TimTheVillain]

My brother has reneged on his vow not to return to VP until The French Tosser has had the sack. I've had to give him his season ticket back.

Move to sports reporting Damon.

[paulcomben]

Is Heskey still suspended for this one?

Why do you care?  We have Bent now. Heskey is no use and now has no purpose, thank goodness.

[Mazrim]

Steady on. We still have to get the ball to Bent and if he can read and predict Heskey's flick ons and so on he could be very useful still. Plus he's been playing well this season.

I think Delfouneso's general play, greater pace and finishing could prove useful as a foil to Bent also.
Who knows, Gabby may just click with him too.
But until the summer and we get a chance to replace him, Heskey should be in contention.

[JUAN PABLO]

Bent to miss the game and then be ruled out for rest of season after training ground injury sustained when Heskey fell on him.

dont joke about something like that,  thats Emile all over

[JUAN PABLO]

I think Heskey and Bent would have caused shitty some problems...  after watching them against Leicester twice..

[The Man With A Stick]

Is Heskey still suspended for this one?

Why do you care?  We have Bent now. Heskey is no use and now has no purpose, thank goodness.

A lot of us wrote Heskey off last year and have been made to look a bit daft ever since.

[Blackcountry Villa]

Heard tickets are selling very well now, should be a cracking atmosphere.

Bent 1st goal, Villa to win 2-1, 50/1.

[olaftab]

Bent to miss the game and then be ruled out for rest of season after training ground injury sustained when Heskey fell on him.

No no  it is the crunching tackle by Downing that  injures him!

[xbiggy]

Shirt sales up, ticket sales up, the Villa on the up, now for a good performance (please) and an even better result.
Hope my optimism isnt short lived 3-2 to us.

[barrysleftfoot]

   Unfortunately with Petrov and NRC in the midfield, i think it might be a repeat of the game at Wastelands, when we was completely overrun in midfield.

  If Makoun/Adam plays then it could be different, and if Delph is fit then the same.

  Would be happy with a draw tbh.

[ozzjim]

Think 4-5-1 is the way to go.

Brad
Walker
Clark
Dunne
Collins

Albrighton
Petrov
Reo Coker
Bannan
Young

Bent

[WALTERS WARRIORS]

Just got a bad feeling looking at that team. Midfield still looks weak. Gutted Makoun is not in there ............

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

Bent won't score will he? It's just too obvious.

I'm sure it said on Sky the other day that he had scored on his debut for every club he's played for, so lets hope he continues that record and gets off to a flyer.

[brontebilly]

Think 4-5-1 is the way to go.

Brad
Walker
Clark
Dunne
Collins

Albrighton
Petrov
Reo Coker
Bannan
Young

Bent

Id have Stephen Ireland, Hogg even Downing centrally ahead of Bannan at present. Id also consider bringing Warnock into midfield ahead of him. My preference for this game would be Hogg. Between Albrighton and Young we have enough players who cant tackle in our midfield. If we play 442 - Reo Coker and Petrov will be destroyed.