It was a much improved performance during the first half, and fans crying out for a 4-4-2 system will be quick to point out that was the case today with Marc Albrighton on the right and Charles N’Zogbia on the left. However, it has to be said that Bolton looked entirely worthy of the 19th place they held in the league coming into this one.

Still, by the break, with scoreline reading 2-0, it had been a very even encounter statistically, we had just done a much better job of carving out chances whilst Bolton struggled to do much of anything in the final third. In truth, we could, and probably should, have been another goal or two ahead.

The opening goal was superb. Following a brief spell of possession, Chris Herd found Gabby in space on the left and though his square ball was just behind Darren Bent, Marc Albrighton had got himself in position to fire in from close range.

Stiliyan Petrov chalked up his third of the season with another shot from distance, this time taking a slight nick off of Gary Cahill on the way in. As they say, they all count.

Bolton looked much brighter after the break and you might say that the goal, as typical as it was for us to concede, was coming. Zat Knight attempted to stroke in from a corner only for the ball to disappear into the crowded box. Lines were not cleared, Klasnic pounced to stab past the helpless Guzan.

A typically nervy last half hour then. Bolton pushed for an equaliser, but always looked vulnerable on the counter. In truth, both sides created chances they should have done better with, but neither side were able to alter the scoreline.

So, a much needed win, the first away from Villa Park this season, and obvious positives can be extracted. That said, Bolton looked truly awful during much of the first half and we were gifted a number of chances that we should have buried. Other teams, notably the ones coming up, will not be so generous.

Nevertheless, it’s three points in the bag, a rare experience this season, so let’s just soak it up and enjoy it for now. If it’s belief and confidence that we really need, I hope everyone involved extracts what they need from this and takes it into the remaining games of the year.

Key Events Timeline

93′ YELLOW CARD Marc Albrighton.
90′ YELLOW CARD Gabby Agbonlahor.
81′ SUBSTITUTION Darren Bent off, Emile Heskey on.
79′ SUBSTITUTION Ivan Klasnic off, David Ngog on.
71′ SUBSTITUTION Tuncay off, Gael Kakuta on.
55′ GOAL Ivan Klasnic. Zat Knight’s scuffed shot from a corner went into a crowd, pinged around, lines not clear, Klasnic stabbed in from close range.
39′ GOAL Stiliyan Petrov.
33′ GOAL Marc Albrighton. Ball moved to the left where Gabby had drifted wide, his cut back behind Bent, who got a steadying touch on it, before Marc Albrighton banged it in.
27′ YELLOW CARD Mark Davies.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Boyata, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Tuncay, M Davies, Pratley, Eagles, K Davies, Klasnic. Subs: Bogdan, Steinsson, Muamba, Petrov, Kakuta, O’Halloran, Ngog.

Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Albrighton, Herd, Petrov, N’Zogbia, Agbonlahor, Bent. Subs: Marshall, Clark, Ireland, Bannan, Delfouneso, Weimann, Heskey.

It looks like it’s a straightforward 4-4-2 from McLeish this week, and with Herd providing the muscle and Petrov back in the starting line-up, it’s Barry Bannan that’s had to miss out.

Castrol Football Prediction

Form

Last ten results for this fixture:

Worryingly, Shay Given was carried off after his hamstring went shortly before half time. Brad Guzan didn’t have much to do, not really, but we’ll probably get to see him in goal for a few games now.

Chris Herd also limped off, although he may have just been feeling sorry for himself after a less than awesome display. Jermaine Jenas was also replaced due to injury, it looked like something in his ankle went and he’ll surely be out again now.

Charles N’Zogbia was excluded from the squad to sit on the naughty step for missing some appointment or other during the week. Details are sketchy.

Phil Jones got the only goal. It was tame. Nani romped into space behind Alan Hutton and sat a nice ball up for Jones to volley in from close range unchallenged. Simple enough.

There was the usual running about a bit at the end, but it was aimless and delivered no more than it deserved. This is beyond tedious now. Barcelona are currently 2-0 up against Levante, I’m going to watch that. At least there’s some joy there.

Timeline: Key Events

79′ SUBSTITUTION Ashley Young off / Danny Welbeck on.
64′ SUBSTITUTION Rio Ferdinand off / Ryan Giggs on.
64′ SUBSTITUTION Jermaine Jenas off / Emile Heskey on. Injury.
59′ SUBSTITUTION Chris Herd off / Stiliyan Petrov on. Herd limped straight off down the tunnel.
38′ SUBSTITUTION Shay Given off / Brad Guzan on. Hamstring.
20′ GOAL Phil Jones. Nani in behind Hutton, a simple cross into the box, Phil Jones volley’s calmly in unmarked.
12′ SUBSTITUTION Javier Hernández off / Antonio Valencia on. Ankle injury.

Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Herd, Jenas, Albrighton, Bannan, Agbonlahor, Bent. Subs: Guzan, Cuellar, Clark, Delph, Petrov, Ireland, Heskey.

Man Utd: Lindegaard, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Jones, Rooney, Young, Hernandez. Subs: De Gea, Evans, Fletcher, Park, Giggs, Valencia, Welbeck.

Either way, it’s a tough game ahead and I suspect there will be a bigger interest in the manner McLeish approaches the game than any real expectation in getting much from it.

The two managers go way back of course, here’s how they are sending their sides out today in search of the points.

Barry Bannan is back in the starting line-up and Marc Albrighton gets his first Premier League start of 2011/12. With Jermaine Jenas also in the XI, it’s certainly a positive teamsheet from McLeish.

Castrol Football Prediction

Form

Last ten results for this fixture:

Villa looked better after the break, with Gabby Agbonlahor once again showing the way in the final third. One or two chances were created, the ball was passed around a bit, but it wasn’t until Jermaine Jenas and Barry Bannan came on that we got to see a little creativity.

The best two chances of the game probably fell to Leroy Lita, but neither side will look to many opportunities squandered with regret. In the end, given the news that overshadowed the match, the outcome was one many would have hoped for.

There is still much work to be done with this Villa side though, the shackles firmly placed on the team during the opening spell; a game plan seemingly being to make it half time level and then go from there.

The fans crave more adventure.

Timeline: Key Events

93′ YELLOW CARD James Collins.
82′ SUBSTITUTION Nathan Dyer off / Wayne Routledge on.
79′ SUBSTITUTION Fabian Delph off / Barry Bannan on.
69′ SUBSTITUTION Emile Heskey off / Jermaine Jenas on.
67′ YELLOW CARD Gary Monk.
53′ SUBSTITUTION Danny Graham off / Leroy Lita on.
42′ YELLOW CARD Ashley Richards.
37′ YELLOW CARD Richard Dunne.
27′ SUBSTITUTION Angel Rangel off / Ashley Richards on.
15′ YELLOW CARD Alan Hutton.
8′ SUBSTITUTION Scott Sinclar.
3′ YELLOW CARD Fabian Delph.

Swansea: Vorm, Rangel, Monk, Williams, Taylor, Britton, Allen, Dyer, Gower, Sinclair, Graham. Subs: Dobbie, Routledge, Lita, Moore, Tremmel, Richards, Moras.

Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Collins, Dunne, Warnock, Herd, Delph, N’Zogbia, Heskey, Agbonlahor, Bent. Subs: Guzan, Clark, Cuellar, Bannan, Albrighton, Jenas, Delfouneso.

Alex McLeish has promised a better performance than we were treated to at White Hart Lane and, in all honesty, it would be difficult to be much worse. It will certainly be a contrast in styles as Brendan Rogers’ Swansea side like to stroke the ball around a bit, building from the back.

Only Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea resort to long balls less frequently. McLeish’s Villa, on the other hand, are only beaten in tendency to hit it long by Stoke, Norwich and Blackburn.

Fortunately, for all their possession and passing football, the home side barely generate more chances that Villa, averaging 3.7 shots on target per game compared to our 3.0; ranking 18th and 19th respectively.

Here’s how the two managers are sending their teams out today:

Castrol Football Prediction

Form

Last five results for this fixture:

Emmanuel Adebayor helped himself to a first half brace, but should have had at least a hat-trick during a game that Tottenham barely had to break a sweat to dominate. In fairness, such was the gulf in quality, we should consider ourselves fortunate to have left with the score only 2-0.

There were rumours before kick off that Alex McLeish intended to field Alan Hutton as a right midfielder and Carlos Cuellar behind him at right back to deal with the threat of Gareth Bale and that’s what he did. Unfortunately, Spurs have one or two other decent players and that defensive set up achieved very little.

That’s about all I have to say right now, the only one to come out with much credit is Chris Herd. It was a shockingly poor performance all round; McLeish’s Birmingham side had a greater say in this same fixture on the final day of the season; the game that sealed their fate.

I’m not making that up. Last season, Birmingham had 32% possession and attempted 285 passes with a completion rate of 69%. Tonight, we enjoyed just 30% possession and attempted 252 passes with a 70% completion rate. We did at least resort to the long ball less frequently than Birmingham in the same game last season: 18% to their 21%.

According to Opta, and they kinda know these things, our three efforts on goal tonight (only one of them on target by the way) was our lowest in a Premier League game during the last six seasons. That’s some achievement.

Anti-football. Defeatist. It got exactly what it deserved: nothing.

Embarrassing.

Timeline: Key Events

90′ SUBSTITUTION Luka Modric off / Sandro on.
87′ SUBSTITUTION Chris Herd off / Fabian Delph on.
85′ YELLOW CARD Stiliyan Petrov.
70′ SUBSTITUTION Rafael Van der Vaart off / Jermaine Defoe on.
64′ SUBSTITUTION Carlos Cuellar off / Barry Bannan on.
44′ YELLOW CARD Chris Herd.
40′ GOAL Adebayor. Bale got the beating of Cuellar without too much trouble, crossed to the near post where James Collins dived in to clear, but missed only for the ball to loop over Given to the waiting Adebayor to tap into an empty net.
14′ GOAL Adebayor. It was coming too. Unmarked with a bicycle kick if you please. Where was James Collins at the time? You tell me.

Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, King, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Modric, Parker, Bale, Van der Vaart, Adebayor. Subs: Cudicini, Bassong, Gallas, Sandro, dos Santos, Pienaar, Defoe.

Aston Villa: Given, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Hutton, Petrov, Herd, Heskey, Agbonlahor, Bent. Subs: Guzan, Clark, Delph, Ireland, Bannan, N’Zogbia, Weimann.

Truth is, coming back from North London with a point has generally been a decent result for us in the past, you’ll do well to find many Villa fans optimistic about grabbing something tonight. Football’s not always predictable – if it was, we wouldn’t watch – so you never know, maybe this is where we demonstrate a new found ability to grind something out.

Alan Hutton returns to his former employers and could have a point to prove. Darren Bent is also never short of motivation to do well on his return to the Lane. Jermaine Jenas is ineligible to play against his parent club. Gabby has been declared fit though.

With Harry Redknapp back on the touchline, here’s how the two managers are setting their sides out. The rumour ahead of kick off was that Hutton would be deployed as a right midfielder with Carlos Cuellar brought in at right back to combat the threat of Gareth Bale down that side. The team sheet would lend some credibility to that, but we’ll have to see how they’re actually deployed.

Castrol Football Prediction

Form

Last 10 results for this fixture:

Qualification for the knock-out phases of the NextGen series will have to wait after Villa’s U19s failed to get a result in Norway, losing 3-2 to Rosenborg.

Derrick Williams cancelled out Ole Kristian Selnæs’ 29th minute opener from a Samir Carruthers corner in the 39th minute. Daniel Johnson sent the visitors into the break 2-1 ahead just minutes later with a wicked shot from a tight angle.

Selnæs struck again to tie the game up in the 70th minute with his shot taking a big deflection leaving Calum Barrett in the Villa goal no chance. Mushaga Bakenga grabbed the winner for the home side with 11 minutes left on the clock.

The Young Lions were without Benjamin Siegrist and Gary Gardner, both away with their nation U21 sides for Euro 2013 U21 qualifiers.

Villa hold on to second place in Group 3 with just Ajax left to play at Villa Park on November 22nd. Rosenborg have away trips to Fenerbahce and Ajax remaining.

Group 3 Standings

Norwich opened the scoring, slightly against the run of play at the time, thanks to a superbly hit free kick from outside the box by Anthony Pilkington. Shay Given had no chance; top corner it went.

Darren Bent made it 1-1 five minutes later after great work down the left by Gabby Agbonlahor, who squared across the face of goal and Bent did what he does best inside the six yard box.

Gabby made it 2-1 after his persistence chasing a lost cause paid off and a poor back pass by Leon Barnett set up the opportunity to get to the ball before Norwich keeper Ruddy. Gabby nicked the ball inside, off the charging keeper’s toes, before passing into an empty net.

Bent struck again just after the hour mark, fulfilling his promise that one goal will lead to more, finishing off another brilliant cross from Gabby, this time from the right.

Steve Morison jangled home nerves by making it 3-2 with 13 minutes to go, somewhat spoiling the debut of Jermaine Jenas, who came on for Emile Heskey, and the introduction of Stephen Ireland, replacing Stiliyan Petrov. Petrov headed straight down the tunnel, a hamstring injury being the early word.

It was a frantic closing ten minutes then, but in the end Norwich’s desperate attempts to get back level were resisted.

Timeline: Key Events

90′ YELLOW CARD Grant Holt.
77′ GOAL – Steve Morison.
77′ SUBSTITUTION Aston Villa: Stiliyan Petrov off / Stephen Ireland on.
76′ SUBSTITUTION Norwich: Wes Hoolahan off / Simeonn Jackson on.
75′ YELLOW CARD Anthony Pilkington.
67′ SUBSTITUTION Aston Villa: Emile Heskey off / Jermaine Jenas on.
63′ SUBSTITUTION Norwich: Elliott Bennett off / David Fox on.
62′ GOAL – Darren Bent finishes Gabby Agbonlahor’s superb cross from the right.
48′ GOAL Gabby Agbonlahor – capitalised on poor back pass.
45′ YELLOW CARD – Leon Barnett.
45′ YELLOW CARD – Andrew Crofts.
35′ SUBSTITUTION Norwich: Bradley Johnson off / Andrew Crofts on. Injury.
34′ YELLOW CARD – Charles N’Zogbia.
33′ YELLOW CARD – Wes Hoolahan.
30′ GOAL Darren Bent – Great work from Gabby Agbonlahor down the left, fierce low cross across the face of goal, finished by Bent from six yards.
25′ GOAL Anthony Pilkington – Direct free kick from outside the box to the top corner.

Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Petrov, Herd, N’Zogbia, Heskey, Agbonlahor, Bent. Subs: Guzan, Clark, Cuellar, Delph, Jenas, Ireland, Albrighton.

Norwich: Ruddy, Naughton, Barnett, Martin, Tierney, Bennett, Johnson, Pilkington, Hoolahan, Morison, Holt. Subs: Rudd, De Laet, Fox, Crofts, Surman, Jackson, Wilbraham.