Aston Villa (A) - Sun 26th Oct, 14:00 | PL | Pre-Match Thread

[Petetheblu]

Looks like we are playing the hybrid Stones system again.
Back 3 of Nunes, Dias Gvardiol.

3 central mids of Stones, Tijanni and Bernardo

3 AMs of Bobb Foden and Savihno

Haaland on top and Donna in the Sticks

I hope so. Villa have a very athletic midfield, and we will need Stones to be up for it.

 

[hilts]

Same miserable fuckers every time a team is announced. Never happy unless they`re moaning.

Every week some miserable fucker moans about people discussing the team.

Can we not discuss the team when it's posted please guys. Thanks.

:-)

 

[Wretched Vengeance]

Midfield will be chaos.......McGinn's giant arse will dominate.

 

[SWP's back]

Surprised Bobb starts over Sav

Eh

 

[waspish]

Worry is without the ball we have no one to win the ball

 

[Damien10]

Marmoush won’t be happy being sub all the time and Cherki needs more than 10 minutes a game to try and establish himself

Richard’s, he’s not long back from his injury. When he come on in the champions league he looked way of it and couldn’t even keep himself onside.

Today wasn’t the day for him to start.

Cherki I agree.

 

[01cravend]

Going with a zero man midfield today... Stones doesnt tackle so him stepping in doesnt make one iota of difference out of possession

 

[ScottSinclair]

Yeah not sure about that midfield, but hopefully this line-up will have a lot of upside if all of Foden, Sav and Bobb performs well

 

[Barcon]

Yep. If you can’t enjoy watching the team (and a lot seem unable to), why bother supporting us. You take the rough with the smooth.

There are people that have been on here for decades with thousands of posts and I've never seen a post that makes me think they are a Blue.
I stopped reading their shite long ago.

 

[Gabriel]

Difficult game for Stones, Silva, and Reijnders, each of whom will have to sacrifice a bit of their natural game to help cover the absence of an outright defensive midfielder. Shouldn’t stop people making rush judgements on their performances mind…

 

[youngbob]

Wouldn't be surprised if it's:

Donnarumma
Stones Dias Gvardiol
Nunes Reijnders Foden Bernardo
Bobb Haaland Savinho

A little open for me. Would have preferred O'Reilly and Kovacic in for Reijnders and Foden.

A draw is a good result here. We've been shite at Villa Park these last few years and we're missing key players again. Just got to keep the unbeaten run going while waiting for Rodri, Gonzalez, Marmoush, etc. to come back.

 

[Ric]

Not convinced by that starting line-up either, but have to trust Pep's thinking. Am sure O'Reilly and Gonzalez would've started if fully fit. Bobb over Doku is a bit of a surprise, but Doku's not been great in the last couple of games. Savinho deserves to keep his starting place. Come on City!

 

[noseve]

All three results possible. I reckon we shade it. Might need three goals, though.

 

[jimharri]

Reading this thread, I'm not sure why we're bothering playing the game, seeing as we're nailed on to lose.

 

[denTTony]

Neither Nico is a blow, bit surprised no Kovacic

 

[hilts]

Wouldn't be surprised if it's:

Donnarumma
Stones Dias Gvardiol
Nunes Reijnders Foden Bernardo
Bobb Haaland Savinho

A little open for me. Would have preferred O'Reilly and Kovacic in for Reijnders and Foden.

A draw is a good result here. We've been shite at Villa Park these last few years and we're missing key players again. Just got to keep the unbeaten run going while waiting for Rodri, Gonzalez, Marmoush, etc. to come back.

Can't drop Foden, there is a fine line between cautious and downright negative.

 

[Gabriel]

Yeah - I don’t like the look of that midfield at all!

I get that Gonzalez is clearly not fully fit, but I’d rather have Kova in there alongside Bernardo if that’s our only option - and lose one of Foden/Reijnders.

Looks very lightweight as is!

Kovacic only has 37 mins of football under his belt, though, so throwing him in against an energetic and physically powerful Villa midfield would not be without risk.

 

[youngbob]

As much as I expect a tough game today, Villa's recent XG record in the PL makes for encouraging reading.

1-1 vs Sunderland, 0.78xG and 2 big chances.
3-1 vs Fulham, 1.11xG and 3 big chances.
2-1 vs Burnley, 1.16xG and 2 big chances.
2-1 vs Spurs, 0.32xG and 0 big chances.

If we can limit them to similar numbers we've got lads who can make the difference.

 

[samuelyeboah]

spooky one this. hopefully this midfield + gvardiol as left back is able to hold it together

 

[HypnoticBlue]

Looks a bit weak in midfield, and slow at the back, but we go again.
Come on Blues 3points please.