Aston Villa v Chelsea Pre-Match Thread

[SoccerHQ]

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.

[gpbarr]

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.

[colin69]

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.

[ez]

We'll play ok but struggle to create anything. 0-1

[Flin5tone]

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

[CT]

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?

[Steve67]

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.

[Goldie.7]

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.

[Steve67]

Kante is out isn't he?

[Toronto Villa]

He’s back in training. I imagine at best he will be on the bench.

[Legion]

0-2.

[postal]

One of the main problems has been a sense of urgency from the players at times, and obviously a clinical edge infront of goal 
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.

[curiousorange]

One of the main problems has been a sense of urgency from the players at times, and obviously a clinical edge infront of goal 
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.

[FatSam]

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?

[PeterWithesShin]

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.