Match Preview: Palace v Villa

Who are we playing?
Crystal Palace on Tuesday 2nd December at 8pm-ish

Where are we playing?
Selhurst Park, London, SE25 6PU

Can I go?
Last we heard, there were a few tickets left at £32 a pop

Easy to get to?
Post Code for SAT NAV: SE25 6PU.
If you are on the choo-choo, head for Thornton Heath


Can I watch it on telly?
Not selected by BT Sport so dodgy web streams and pubs with overseas satellite systems are your best bet. Highlights in Match of the Day on Wednesday.


Big game?
Huge.

Villa could and should have soundly beaten Burnley after a dominant first half display in which we played some nice pass and move football.

Trouble is Lambert's charges sat too deep in the second half and instead of building a commanding lead, sat on the solitary goal. You simply can't do that and hope to get away with it and it cost us the win. At the end Burnley could have nicked it.

Palace definitely see this as a six pointer and when they are on it, they capable of giving the best teams a run for their money. They'll certainly fancy their chances against us.

An away point won't be enough to please the Villa faithful, while defeat really drops us in the sweet and sticky.

Suzanna gets her legover

Do Palace have any famous fans?
Well there's Suzanna Reid off of breakfast telly, Roger de Courcey & Nookie Bear and a couple of the Inbetweeners

We've got heir to the throne the Duke of Cambridge.

So we win.

Who's playing for us?
Big Chris is due back which may give Lambert a selection headache, especially if he thinks Joe Cole is fit enough to start a game again so quickly. Gabby could well be the man lose out but Andi Weimann's not looking super sharp at the minute.

Who's playing for them?
Palace had a hard encounter with Swansea on Saturday so our old mate Neil Warnock may bring in some fresh legs.


Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Palace have beaten us 13 times while we have 16 wins. There have been 10 draws

• Our last win away at Palace was back in September 1980. Gary Shaw scored the only goal.

• Palace did the double over us last season thanks to two 1-0 victories. Dwight Gayle got the winner at Villa Park while Jason Puncheon was the match winner at their place

• In November 1994, Palace wrecked our defence of the League Cup, running out 4-1 winners. Future Villa player Gareth Southgate scored two.

Prediction
We think this will be 3-1 Palace

My Favourite Time of Year - The Florin Street Band (New Christmas Songs)

Match Report: Burnley 1-1 Villa as it was tweeted

Roy Keane quits Villa to spend more time with his ego...

Roy Keane is the latest rat to leave Villa's sinking ship, hot on the heels of Darren Bent who fled to Brighton yesterday.

“Roy came to me this morning and he informed me that, ultimately, the difficulty of combining both roles has prompted his decision, which I respect totally,” we were informed by Villa's useless but seemingly unsackable manager Paul Lambert.

Ireland haven't got another match for FOUR MONTHS, but weirdly, Keane felt he couldn't manage both roles. Keane previously quit ITV on the eve of the World Cup, no doubt because he couldn't face having to look at Adrian Chiles.

"Ultimately, my roles with Villa and Ireland and combining my commitment to these have become too much." said the sometime badger chinned Keane

"It isn't fair to either Villa or Ireland, so I've made this decision. I'd like to thank Paul for giving me a great opportunity to come to a brilliant football club, I've really enjoyed my experiences at Villa and I wish the management team, the players, the supporters and the club nothing but the best going forward."

Martin O'Neill Interview 28th November 2014 from Football Association of Ireland on Vimeo.

Goalshy Villa lend Darren Bent to Brighton

Brighton & Hove Albion have completed the signing of 30-year-old striker Darren Bent from Aston Villa on an initial month’s loan until the end of December. Villa have let the proven goalscorer out on loan despite the fact that they only managed six league goals all season.

Bent has spent this season as a rarely used substitute even Benteke has been missing through injury and suspension while Gabby Agbonlahor and Andi Weimann have been firing blanks.

The south coast outfit already have Villa's Joe Bennett and Gary Gardner as regulars in their first team.

London-born Bent passed a medical at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre earlier today, before training with his new teammates ahead of Saturday’s game with Fulham.
 
Manager Sami Hyypia said, “We are delighted to welcome Darren to the club, and I hope he will score plenty of goals for us during his time with us.
 
“His record speaks for itself. He is a top-class striker with a more than 100 Premier League goals with Charlton, Spurs, Sunderland and Aston Villa.
 
“Three years ago he was a regular in the England squad under Fabio Capello; there is no doubting his ability to score goals."

Match Preview: Burnley v Aston Villa

Who are we playing?
Burnley on Saturday 29th November at 3pm

Where are we playing?
Turf Moor, Harry Potts Way, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4BX

Can I go?
Last we heard, there were a few tickets left on general sale at £35 a pop


Easy to get to?
Get off the M6 at Junction 29 and jump on the M65. Hop off the M65 at Junction 10 and follow signs for Towneley Hall. You'll hit the ground eventually. It's about a 20 minute stroll from Burnley Central station.

Can I watch it on telly?
Saturday 3 o'clocker so not on the box but dodgy web streams and pubs with overseas satellite systems are your best bet.

Big game?
Huge.

Ings

Villa can't buy a win at the minute and are desperate to get some points on the board. There is absolutely no doubt that we will be mired in a relegation battle for the rest of the season. lost to Burnley and the situation starts to look desperate.

Trouble is, goal shy Villa are playing the Clarets at precisely the worst time. After a traumatic start to their season, Danny Ings has rediscovered his scoring and the Lancashire club has won two on the bounce, restoring some confidence.

Ironically, Burnley might provide a sterner test for the fledgling defensive partnership of Okore and Clark than Southampton managed to do, Saints strikers struggling for form in Monday's showdown.

Villa's army of travelling faithfully will be hoping to see at least a glimpse of creativity and attacking intent from their team. Frustratingly, we only managed one shot on target against the Saints and even that was a gift from their dodgy keeper.

John Kettley

Do Burnley have any famous fans?
Quite a few, there's Chesney off off Corrie, Alistair Campbell, cricketing legend James Anderson and John Kettley

John Kettley is a weatherman.

We've got Marc Baylis - the bloke that bumped off Tina in Corrie.

So we win.

Jores should get another start

Who's playing for us?
Big Chris is still on the missing list after getting himself sent off against Spurs and we are still missing Fabian Delph, Ron Vlaar and Phil Senderos to injury. We'd imagine that Lambo will be so pleased with the sterile display his charges put in on Monday that he will leave us unchanged.

Who's playing for them?
Danny Ings is the one you've heard of...



Any useless stats?
Of course, here you go:

• Burnley have beaten us 40 times while we have 49 wins. There have been 25 draws

• Our last win at Turf Moor was back in 12 September 1936. Gordon Hodgson and Frank Broome got the Villa goals

• Our last Premier League encounter with the Claret was way back 2010. We won 5-2, Stewart Downing bagging himself a brace

  

  Turf Moor back in the day

• Our first ever match against Burnley was in the inaugural season of the Football League in 1888. We won 4-2 thanks to goals from Albert Allen, Archie Goodall, Tommy Green and Archie Hunter

Prediction
We think this will be a 0-0 draw.

Brian Little channels his energies into Jersey

Villa legend Brian Little, has been installed as the Jersey FA's new Director of Football.

Little - a trophy winner with Villa as both a player and a manager - joins the JFA in the newly created role.

Little's position as Director of Football is funded by a local accountancy and investment management group.

"I have had a number of opportunities to return to football management, but the offers have not felt right, until I met with the JFA and this one arose. 

"The opportunity is really exciting for me and I am looking forward to getting started. I believe that I can add some real value to the JFA by using my knowledge and experience to take a look at what is happening in local football and I will be working with the executive to develop a long term strategy." – Brian Little

"During the process of interviewing for the Jersey Head Coach position, Ian Seddon, who is Brian’s representative, got in touch with us about how Brian would be able to get involved with the JFA.

"A key element of Brian’s role will be to promote Jersey football both within and outside the island with a view to raising its profile. We believe that, with Brian’s help, we will attract more sponsorship into the game and, using his connections, be able to put together a much improved games programme for all our representative sides." – Phil Austin