Who are we playing?West Bromwich Albion
Where are we playing?
Villa Park, Wednesday, 7.45pm
Can I go?
You can. Loads of tickets left.
Can I watch it live on the telly?
Not on a UK channel no. Naughty pubs and dodgy webstreams only.
Big game?
Massive. Pepe Mel will be looking to kick start his new era and what better way to win over sceptical Baggies than with a victory over fierce local rivals.
After the worst sequence of home games that the vast majority of us can ever remember, the Villa faithful will be hoping that the positive footballing approach taken by Lambert's charges in the first half up at Anfield will translate to Villa Park. Home fans will also be keen to see loan signings Ryan Bertrand and Grant Holt in action after both men produced encouraging displays on Merseyside.
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| Cat Deeley supporting a Mickey Mouse outfit |
Well, bizarrely, there's beloved tennis playing behemoth Goran Ivanisevic. There's also Cat Deeley, probably best known for the way her Brummie accent has started to fade away as she's slithered up the greasy pole of show business success.
While you're still imagining Cat slithering on a greasy pole, we'll point out that we've got bass guitarist Russell Leetch from popular group Editors.
So we win.
Who's playing for us?
Gawd knows. We'll all be hoping that the big gap between games means that we can get a few fit because we were rapidly running out of players up at Anfield.
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| Scott Sinclair's partner Mickey Flanagan |
Despite the extended break, Gabby is still a big doubt after hobbling off with a sore foot against Liverpool, while the accident prone Nathan Baker should have shaken off his concussion to challenge Ciaran Clark for a place. Ciaran did well against a formidable Liverpool front line and will be keen to keep his starting berth.
Who's playing for them?
Don't know yet, but many of us are just thrilled that they've sold the dangerous Shane Long. Nic Anelka's participation will be in doubt after the FA decided to charge him over the quenelle incident.
Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:
- Villa's rivalry with West Brom is one of the oldest in football, dating to an FA Cup tie in 1885. We drew 0-0 at our Wellington Road home before going down 3-0 in the replay at Four Acres.
- We gained sweet revenge two seasons later, beating the Baggies two-nil in the FA Cup Final at Kennington Oval.
- The first clash between the teams at Villa Park was in 1897, Fred Wheldon claiming a hat-trick as we ran out 4-3 winners.
- Albion's last win at Villa Park was in October 2011, goals from Jonas Olsson and Paul Scharner giving them victory after a Darren Bent penalty saw us go ahead.
- Marc Albrighton is the only survivor in the Villa squad from the starting line-up that last beat Albion in December 2010. Stewart Downing and Emile Heskey got the goals as we we won 2-1.
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| Pepe |
He said, She said...
"People probably questioned why we brought in Holty, but I knew what I was getting - on and off the pitch. He's been bubbly.” Paul Lambert
“They are very good on the long play and with the second ball through Benteke. The players know this question and this week have worked hard on the pitch to stop the second ball and stop the counter-attack.” Pepe Mel
Prediction
Despite potential new manager bounce, we can't see a flat footed Albion being much of a threat and if Lambert sticks to his new improved positive tactics, a 3-1 Villa should be on the cards.
I'd be more confident if we were playing in Handsworth, but the second half v Arsenal and the return to match fitness of Benteke give me hope that our troublesome home form can be addressed. I wouldn't be scared of Mel Smith's reputation for attack. He's from Tenerife, famous for golf, so probably long ball then. Up the Villa!
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