Villa v Leeds pre-match thread

[cdbearsfan]

Leeds are in better form than us, have two centre backs who are playing as well as ours, have a better midfield than us and have a more balanced attack with pace in Sacko and Roofe.
That said, we've become difficult to beat and being underdogs against one of the other big clubs in this division might just fire up the crowd a bit more.
We also have the Championship's most talented player in Grealish.
Any result is possible, and that's why I'm enjoying this season more than any in recent years. No more forgone conclusions before I even leave the house.
Roll on tonight!

We're not underdogs.

Villa 6/5, DL 14/5.

[Chris Smith]

Leeds are in better form than us, have two centre backs who are playing as well as ours, have a better midfield than us and have a more balanced attack with pace in Sacko and Roofe.
That said, we've become difficult to beat and being underdogs against one of the other big clubs in this division might just fire up the crowd a bit more.
We also have the Championship's most talented player in Grealish.
Any result is possible, and that's why I'm enjoying this season more than any in recent years. No more forgone conclusions before I even leave the house.
Roll on tonight!

Grealish is a talented player but he has been in and out of our side all season. Needs to start delivering consistently, we keep saying the likes of Ayew and Grealish are the best players in the league but they aren't delivering for us consistently and thus not playing regularly. 5 league goals is a pitiful return from both of them thus far, Tom Ince has 8 in comparison.

Adamoah with a fraction of their ability seems to have a hatful of assists since he joined in comparison.

Leeds look a very big price at 11/4 tonight considering the run they are on.

I guess our unbeaten home record is being taken into account in drawing up those odds.

[DeKuip]

Leeds are in better form than us, have two centre backs who are playing as well as ours, have a better midfield than us and have a more balanced attack with pace in Sacko and Roofe.
That said, we've become difficult to beat and being underdogs against one of the other big clubs in this division might just fire up the crowd a bit more.
We also have the Championship's most talented player in Grealish.
Any result is possible, and that's why I'm enjoying this season more than any in recent years. No more forgone conclusions before I even leave the house.
Roll on tonight!

Grealish is a talented player but he has been in and out of our side all season. Needs to start delivering consistently, we keep saying the likes of Ayew and Grealish are the best players in the league but they aren't delivering for us consistently and thus not playing regularly. 5 league goals is a pitiful return from both of them thus far, Tom Ince has 8 in comparison.

Adamoah with a fraction of their ability seems to have a hatful of assists since he joined in comparison.

Leeds look a very big price at 11/4 tonight considering the run they are on.

I haven't heard many people ranking Ayew as one of the best players in the league - I don't think he'd make the top 150 to be honest. You need to be able to know when to pass a ball to be considered a decent player, and forwards and attacking midfielders need to be able to shoot with some consistency of accuracy too.

[wittonwarrior]

Need to win and back that up with 3 points on Monday   Minimum acceptable if we are to reach play offs will be 4 points from these games. Won't be easy

[Dave P]

I've said all season that I think the play offs are beyond us. Results like the ones we had at Leeds and Norwich will happen at frequent intervals to keep us below 6th.

That said, a win tonight and I may have to admit it could be possible.

What about results like we had against Reading, Fulham and Brighton? All three of which are better sides than Leeds or Norwich.

Which emphasises my point that 2/3 wins on the trot will be followed by a defeat at regular points throughout the season.  A defeat tonight will undo the good work of the past few games but a win will make me believe we can climb upwards.  Tonight is that pivotal for me.

Also worth noting that 6 of our 8 wins have come against the current bottom 6.

[Ads]

We've lost two in 12, 5 all season. Nobody has beaten us regularly. Only Brighton have lost fewer games, while everybody bar Fulham has lost more.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I hope for once you're right, Ads. A win tonight would really have everybody fearing us and set us up nicely for the 2nd half of the season.

[Ads]

For once? Cheeky bastard.

[Marton]

Bad feeling about this one. We been a bit lucky with the results and it doesnt feel like we are ready for taking on the good teams yet.

Still think the key is Jedinak. Bruce currently like to play him with just one other MC in a classic 4-4-2 when we play at home. At least he starts out that way.
Problem we get from that is Jedinak ends up as midfield engine with a lot of passing going through him and he is way to error-prone threading difficult passes.
So our possession and attacking suffers. Another thing is that he plays higher and that leaves us vulnerable to fast counters (he is strong but not fast) and whoever is playing MC alongside him have to cover. So far only Bacuna have managed to do that decently. Gardner is a ghost beside Jedi and Westwood cant even cover for Jedi defensively.

I am hoping that Bruce at some point figure out he needs to play Jedi deep anchoring the back 4 with 2 energetic MCs in front. Bacuna is a given but not sure about the other one. Tend to favor Gardner (for that Reading game that was the only time we had midfield that worked) and Grealish cant play both ways. Tshibola might work but its hard to tell as he never even subs. 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 please.

                                            Kodjia
                      Grealish                            Adomah   


             Gardner                                                 Bacuna
   
                                            Jedinak
Amavi                                                                          Hutton
                       Baker                               Chester       

                                             Bunn
 

[four fornicholl]

Wood and Hernandez both back for them apparently.

[russon]

Wood and Hernandez both back for them apparently.

Wood couldn't hit a barn door from 6 paces, they'd be better off with 10 men

[St AustellAVFC]

4-1 win. Kodjia x3 and Baker.

[Ads]

I'd like to see Bacuna and Gardner partner Jedinak in midfield.

Gives us the ability to press and retain the ball. Grealish, Adomah and Kodjia would be the three he'd choose up top.

Important game, let's get the first goal and keep the concentration.

[eamonn]

It's a pity the return of this fixture isn't in March/April like it should be. We'd be in our element by then and hammer them comfortably.
They're playing with real confidence, we're still disjointed. Can't see past a draw at best.

[cdbearsfan]

I'd like to see Bacuna and Gardner partner Jedinak in midfield.

Gives us the ability to press and retain the ball. Grealish, Adomah and Kodjia would be the three he'd choose up top.

Important game, let's get the first goal and keep the concentration.

I'd like to see Gardner nowhere near the team. He's done the near-impossible of being worse than Westwood.