Aston Villa (H) - Wed 3rd April, 20:15 | PL | Pre-Match Thread

[bluealf]

Possession = Peps way

Yes and Haaland's is to run onto through balls, which is what we are chatting about.

False 9 is probably best for Pep football

 

[Gray]

Surrounded by day trippers in my seat. The regular fans seem to be giving it a miss.

 

[Gabriel]

Why should Grealish hold down the left so Doku can roam around?

Grealish is the best since Mahrez left at drawing players over to his side and then creating space elsewhere. He's also coming back from injury so holding the flank is slightly easier. The other three can keep rotating positions to move their midfield around. It doesn't have to be for prolonged periods, just enough to keep them guessing.

 

[heslops barnet]

Yes and Haaland's is to run onto through balls, which is what we are chatting about.

That never get played as our build up is so sloooooow

 

[ThreesKompany]

I’d sooner have started Haaland and KDB tonight over at Palace on Saturday.

If you understand Pep, he's always going to default to having strongest lineup for away fixtures. So this was the obvious choice and they can come on if needed tonight.

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Decent lineup that although I'd rather see Bobb on the right instead of Doku. I'm going 3-1, come on City!

 

[ray21]

I hate seeing Ferdinand on the City pitch.

 

[Phil1]

Last season he was a beast, not so much this

Been a few mitigating circumstances in fairness. 2 months out injured and a close family bereavement.
No doubt he’s had a couple of howlers as well where there’s nobody else to blame but himself yet he’s still on course TL for another golden boot.
We have to be careful not to take this kid for granted.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Last season he was a beast, not so much this

Last season teams were still trying to figure out how to defend him. And they hadn’t yet brought in players to do a better job of it (or the ones they did were injured when they faced us).

He still has a goal contribution every 88 minutes played in the league (compared to one every 66 minutes played for the full 22/23 league campaign).

He could very well achieve it again if his scoring picks up.

 

[He’stheleftbackremember]

Villa’s keeper injuries in warm up and no substitute keeper if this one gets hurt or sent off