West Bromwich Albion v Aston Villa Pre-Match Thread

[silhillvilla]

Saw Alan Irvine last weekend , he was having difficulty managing to park his bmw let alone manage a PL football team. If we lose to these lot we should be ashamed.
Having said that it's a derby, one goal in it for me.

[UK Redsox]

......crap music because all brass bands are crap

Says the man who posts Ohio State University marching band clips in Off Topic.......

I'm sure that Ive said that the music produced by such bans wasn't up to much. However the marching is spectacular at times

[class-of-82]

Gabby to get the winner in the 0-1 away win in the 94th minute and on the after match interview says "that was for Alex Cropley

[PeterWithesShin]

......crap music because all brass bands are crap

Says the man who posts Ohio State University marching band clips in Off Topic.......

I'm sure that Ive said that the music produced by such bans wasn't up to much. However the marching is spectacular at times

Don't believe a word he says. I had to listen to the Ohio Marching Band's greatest hits CD for the journey to and from Burnley!

[PeterWithesShin]

If Gabby and Benteke play well, we win.

[GordonCowansisthegreatest]

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside...

Oh I do like to be beside the sea.......

Oh I do like to walk along the prom, prom, prom..

Where the brass band plays...

I thought we were playing Blackpool after Christmas!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

......crap music because all brass bands are crap

Says the man who posts Ohio State University marching band clips in Off Topic.......

I'm sure that Ive said that the music produced by such bans wasn't up to much. However the marching is spectacular at times

Don't believe a word he says. I had to listen to the Ohio Marching Band's greatest hits CD for the journey to and from Burnley!

Indeed. UK Redsox is to musical taste what Paul Lambert is to tactical football. Bloody clueless. 

[Gregorys Boy]

Torygraph

Team news

Captain Chris Brunt will again miss out for West Brom in their derby clash against Aston Villa.

The midfielder has failed to recover from a hamstring injury he suffered in last week's 2-1 Barclays Premier League defeat to West Ham.

Jonas Olsson is out following an operation on his Achilles but Saido Berahino is set for a recall after being dropped to the bench for the goalless draw at Hull and Claudio Yacob is available following a ban.

Aston Villa pair Ron Vlaar and Fabian Delph could be in contention to return to action in Saturday's local derby at West Brom.

Captain Vlaar has been out since early November with a calf injury while England rookie Delph dislocated his shoulder in October but both have returned to training and may make surprise returns.

Tom Cleverley (bruised foot) is a doubt and fellow midfielder Ashley Westwood will miss around a month with a knee injury. Forward Andi Weimann returns from suspension but defenders Philippe Senderos and Nathan Baker remain out, as does midfielder Joe Cole.

Provisional squads (from)

West Brom: Foster, Myhill, Pocognoli, Gamboa, Dawson, Lescott, McAuley, Yacob, Davidson, Wisdom, Baird, Varela, Gardner, Morrison, O'Neil, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Blanco, Sessegnon, Samaras, Ideye, Berahino, Anichebe.

Aston Villa: Guzan, Given, Hutton, Lowton, Okore, Clark, Vlaar, Herd, Cissokho, Delph, Richardson, Sanchez, N'Zogbia, Cleverley, Grealish, Bacuna, Agbonlahor, Weimann, Benteke, Robinson.

Not sure Delph and Vlaar being fit again would make that much difference in this game, they both need to get up to match fitness anyway.  Delph would be a good option on the bench if we had to change the game.  Would give him about 20-25 minutes in the second half.  The defence looks strong at the moment, so no point in putting Vlaar back in just yet.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

With Westwood out I think Delph need to start imho.
If he's up and ready to go, obviously!

If not, Richardson? Preferably Grealish?
Let's have a bloody good go at 'em!

Villa, 2-0!

[PeterWithesShin]

MATCH STATS

Villa's tally of 11 points in away matches is bettered only by the current Premier League top two: Chelsea and Manchester City.

Villa have scored the highest percentage of first half goals in the Premier League this season (80%).

West Brom have conceded the highest percentage of first half goals in the top flight this season (60%).

Villa are attempting to win three league matches in a row for the first time since April 2010.

Villa won 4-3 in the most recent meeting to end a run of four successive draws between the sides. Christian Benteke's second-half penalty won the game at Villa Park in January after the sides had shared six goals in the first half.

West Brom's only home win against Villa in the last 12 attempts in all competitions was by 2-1 in the Premier League in April 2011 (W1, D5, L6).

The last three games at The Hawthorns have been drawn.

There has not been more than a one-goal margin between the sides in the 16 Premier League meetings so far.

Albion have lost their last three matches at The Hawthorns.

Alan Irvine's side have netted 57% of their goals from set pieces, which is the highest proportion in the top flight.

TRAVEL ADVICE

Fans travelling to the derby match this weekend are advised that London Midland train services will be extremely busy both before and after the game.

This is due to the thousands of extra people travelling into Birmingham on the Snow Hill lines for the Christmas Market and to do their festive shopping.

Supporters are advised to allow extra time to get to The Hawthorns and not rely on the very last trains to ensure they don't miss kick-off.

After the match, crowd control measures will be put in place at The Hawthorns station.

London Midland has worked closely with British Transport Police, West Midlands Police and Midland Metro to co-ordinate the arrangements to ensure everyone's safety.

Fans are advised that this will differ to the usual post-match arrangements.

As a safety measure, home and away fans will be segregated at the station's two entrances before being led down to platform level when trains arrive.

Trains are expected to be busier than usual when they arrive at The Hawthorns, which means it will take longer to get everyone on board a train and away from the ground.

To avoid overcrowding and ensure passenger safety, London Midland will monitor the number of people on board its trains prior to their arrival at The Hawthorns.

Fans will then be led down to platform level based on the capacity available on each train that arrives.

After the game, six trains per hour will depart The Hawthorns in each direction towards Stourbridge and Birmingham.

Departure times are as follows:

Towards Birmingham - 16.37 16.49 16.55 17.07 17.19 17.26 17.37 17.49 17.56 18.07 18.19 18.37 18.49 19.07

Towards Stourbridge - 16.39 16.49 16.59 17.09 17.20 17.29 17.40 17.50 18.00 18.19 18.29 18.39 18.59

Fans may also wish to travel via Midland Metro.

Services run every eight minutes in each direction towards Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

[Toronto Villa]

we started to pass it a lot better and keep possession against Leicester. Let's see if that continues now or do we go back to sub 40% possession stats?

[silhillvilla]

--------Guzman -----------

Cafu   Okore.  Clark.  Cissoko

 -----    Sanchez.   Delphino
Wiseman.                 Cleverly.

-------Adbongalor ------ inthejungle  ---

[UK Redsox]

Am I missing something?

What does "inthejungle" mean?

[tomd2103]

--------Guzman -----------

Cafu   Okore.  Clark.  Cissoko

 -----    Sanchez.   Delphino
Wiseman.                 Cleverly.

-------Adbongalor ------ inthejungle  ---

I think it will be that team, but in a different formation.   It will be our usual 4-3-3 set up I would have thought.   

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Am I missing something?

What does "inthejungle" mean?

The song.
The Benteke song.