Match Preview: Aston Villa v Leyton Orient

We must try to stay in the cups

Who are we playing?
Leyton Orient FC on Wednesday 27th August at 7.45pm in the second round of the League Cup.

Where are we playing?
Villa Park

Can I go?
Absolutely. We might struggle to get a decent crowd in for this one, especially as it's sandwiched between two home league fixtures. Tickets are relatively cheap and this might be a good one to drag your kids along to as it's only a fiver for them to get in.

Easy to get to?
Should be no major issues. There's still the tunnels closure thing if you are popping into town first, but it's no biggie.

Can I watch it on telly?
Almost certainly not. Not all Capital One Cup are covered for overseas telly, which means you may not be even be able to get a dodgy stream

Big game?
A cup run would do us all the world of good and the slightly encouraging start to the season would be quickly derailed if we were to lose to lower league opposition.

Leyton Orient won't need much motivation to give us a decent game.

After naming an unchanged side in his first two league games, Lambert will almost certainly shuffle the pack for this one. We'd certainly hope that Gabby and Weimann would be "rested", that we get to find out if Joe Cole can get through 90 minutes and that Gary Gardner can get a run out (if he hasn't buggered off to Brighton) UPDATE: He has buggered off to Brighton. It would be nice to see Jores Okore too, if fit.

We'd be hugely tempted to start Darren Bent to see if he can get the goals flowing.

Injury worries Aly Cissokho (ankle) and Ron Vlaar (knee) definitely don't play so we'll be less solid at the back.

Someone's mum off of TOWIE

Do Leyton Orient have any famous fans?

Not really. There's Andrew Lloyd Webber and his equally attractive brother Julian Lloyd Webber, Bob Mills off of Fighting Talk and someone's mum from TOWIE.

We've got the bloke that writes the Jack Reacher books.

So we win


Who's playing for us?
Absolutely no idea but we'll be surprised if we don't see some serious squad rotation. It's a great opportunity to get some game time into the legs of the squad and saving a few of the league starters could give us the edge when Europe-trotting Hull rock up.


Who's playing for them?

They didn't look too threatening in 0-0 draw with Walsall. Keeper Adam Legzdins looked shaky while they only managed one shot in the entire match, Jobi McAnuff hitting the side netting. Boss Russell Slade reckons his team are a work in progress.

Sammy Morgan

Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Leyton Orient (sometimes known as simply Orient)  have beaten us twice while we have 5 wins. There have been 3 draws.

• Our last win over Orient was in September 1975. Two goals from Ray Graydon and one from Sammy Morgan secured our 3-1 win.

• Leyton Orient's best run in the League Cup came in the 1962-63 season. They reached the fifth round before going out to Bury.

• The club has reached the top flight of English football once in its history, a single season in Division One in 1962–63 which ended in relegation.

Prediction
We really should roll over this team. Going for a 3-1 win, but expecting more to be honest.