Match Preview: Aston Villa v Sunderland

by Dek Hogan 

Who are we playing?
Sunderland on Saturday 29th August 2015.

First home Saturday 3 o'clocker of the season

Where are we playing?
Villa Park, you know where it is.

Advocaat

Can I go?
Yep, tickets still on sale but don't leave it too long if you want to bag your favourite spot.

Easy to get to?
Doddle. Unless they shut the M6 again.  United was a nightmare...

Can I watch it on telly?
UK telly can't showing live games (from anywhere) until 5.15pm on a Saturday. You'll have to find a dodgy dish pub or get a stream. If you can though, come to the game. The bigger the crowd, the more influence we can have. Don't spectate, participate.

Big game?
Huge.

Sunderland's start to the season was looking pretty much disastrous. Last week they managed a much improved performance grabbing a point at home against Swansea but they were still pretty woeful.

Anything less than a comfortable Villa win here and questions will inevitably be asked of Sherwood's charges, even if it is still early doors.

The team needs time to gel of course, but time is a luxury you just don't get at this level. Every fucking game counts.

We only kept our Premier League status by the skin of our teeth last season and we HAVE to do better at Villa Park if we are to survive again.

The stark fact is that in comparable games we are FOUR POINTS WORSE OFF than we were last term.

Now you can say that we were worth a point against United and we threw one away at Selhurst Park, but they don't let you stay up based on feeble excuses. You need points.

Gabby's continued presence in the starting line-up remains a mystery, but more shocking still was Carlos Sanchez withdrawal when he was having probably his best game yet in a Villa top at Palace.

Scott Sinclair or Jordan Ayew deserve a place far more than Gabby and in Ayew's case, it only help his form to get more game time. Those who think Ayew doesn't do enough should watch him off the ball. His movement creates space allowing others to shine.

Young Adama is a big unit which makes his blistering pace even more surprising and more difficult to deal with. The temptation at the moment must be to use him as an impact sub. Despite the immediate impression he made in South London, it took him a while to get his second wind. It make take him time to get to grips with the physical demands of the Premier League and it may be a while before he's ready for a full ninety.

We need to be patient (we won't be).

Typical Sunderland fan

Do Sunderland have any famous fans?

Well there's Lauren Laverne off of Radio 4 Late Night Woman's Hour. that's exactly the same as ordinary Woman's Hour except that they discuss things like self-lubricating anuses. They are dead cultural on Radio 4

There's also Steve Cram who could run quite fast thirty odd years ago and Heather Mills who is famous mostly for being Heather Mills.

We've got fiddle playing scruffbox Nigel Kennedy off of Radio 3.

So we win.

Who's playing for us?
There could well be an audible groan when the teams are announced if Timbo sticks with a hapless Gabby who had something of a Savo in the first half against Palace before seeming to vanish almost completely.

Amavi took a lot of flak for his ricket but some blame must also be apportioned to Brad for putting him in that position in the first place. Certainly the goalkeeping position is not unassailable.

The whack that took Adama out on the hour mark v Notts County probably means we won't see him.

Who's playing for them?

Jermain Defoe proved that he can still do a job and must be watched. We still think John O'Shea is a weak link that we should be looking to exploit.

Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Sunderland have beaten us 54 times while we have 81 wins. There have been 45 draws.

• Our last competitive encounter with Sunderland last season saw us batter them 4-0 at their place, ending a long running away goal drought in the process. Gabby and Big Chris got two a piece.

• Our last Villa Park victory was the famous 6-1 trouncing of DiCanio's side in April 2013. Vlaar and Weiman goals saw us 2-1 up at half time and a Big Chris hat-trick and one from Gabby broke Mackem hearts.

Prediction
Going for an all action 4-1 Villa win.