Aston Villa v Sunderland Pre-Match Thread

[Olneythelonely]

I’d be keeping Pau firmly in place.

[Dave]

I’d be keeping Pau firmly in place.

Yup. Also given the narrative of the last week or so, I'd be very surprised if Brobbey is given much leeway. Reckon the referee will book him the very first chance he gets.

[darren woolley]

Really need a win I'm going for a 2-1 Villa win.

[Rigadon]

We have struggled against park the bus tactics, which I expect them to employ.  But I have a feeling we will utterly smash this lot on Sunday.

[Dante Lavelli]

They should hopefully be on the beach after their cup final victory v Newcastle.

[PaulWinch again]

They should hopefully be on the beach after their cup final victory v Newcastle.

Well they weren’t on the beach in the game that followed so it’s seems unlikely.

[walsall villain]

They should hopefully be on the beach after their cup final victory v Newcastle.

Well they weren’t on the beach in the game that followed so it’s seems unlikely.

I don’t think ‘on the beach’ is a thing these days until maybe week 38.
My dream is we qualify for CL, win the Europa and then are completely on the beach for the last game which stops Arsenal winning the league and is another thing for them to bang on about forever (I do realise we’d lose at City beach or no beach).

[eamonn]

They can still get Europe, as half the league seems to be in with a shout with all the possible extra places. And their manager seems a very professional sort. They'll have a gameplan to spoil our play and attack us when possible.

[PeterWithesShin]

They should hopefully be on the beach after their cup final victory v Newcastle.

No chance, they still have Europe to go for, plus they'd love to finish above Newcastle.

[Dante Lavelli]

Well I’ve got to say I’m very disappointed at their work ethic and professionalism.

[PeterWithesShin]

The only sides with nothing to play for are Burnley (realistically) and Wolves.

[Nev]

This is much tougher than last night and it was always going to be but the nature of that stinking victory has cemented the feelgood factor and means we still have 2 routes to the CL.

Sunday games are generally flat but I don't feel that it will be the case this week, we are approaching the pinch point and each game feels vital. I'm glad that Sunderland will stay up, anything that punctures the media's tiresome Toon myths and legends is OK by me, but they will be a tough nut to crack. Organised, disciplined and difficult to break down so patience is the order of the day but we'll prevail.

2-1

[paul_e]

Pau didn't seem to have many issues keeping Brobbey in his pocket when we battered Ajax a couple of years back so I'm not sure I'd be too worried about him.