Not quite what I was expecting this week. Following the loss at Blackburn, the Villa players in the Top 100 positions slipped a little from last week, but the number of players in the Top 100 increased!!
Last week it was Stan Petrov finally crashing the Top 100 and this week it’s James Milner joining the party. Milner didn’t finish the 2006/07 season in the Top 100, but that would have been some feat for a 21 year old
Blackburn Rovers vs Peterborough United
Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton
Chelsea vs Bolton Wanderers
Arsenal vs Liverpool
Manchester City vs Scunthorpe United
Barnsley vs Manchester United
Sunderland vs Aston Villa
Portsmouth vs Stoke City
Games will be played week commencing October 26th 2009 – Sunderland vs Villa will be Tuesday 27th.
Sunderland away is definitely winnable, but it’s Cup football and anything can happen. Arsenal vs Liverpool and Spurs vs Everton are obviously the games of the round and also mean that two tough opponents will definitely be knocked
Yeah, lame headline I know. I wouldn’t normally do a post for this sort of thing, but there was a detail in the OS WEBFLASH caught my attention.
The point of the story is that Marc has just been rewarded with a new three year contract and considering his new squad number for this season it’s fair to conclude that he’s rightly held in high regard. He and Nathan Delfouneso have both impressed Martin O’Neill and can be considered
It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve just spotted that Stan Petrov has finally made it into the Actim Index Top 100 this week (updated September 22nd 2009) in 74th place. I’ve mentioned the curiosity of Stan’s absence from the Top 100 before, so it’s nice to see him sneak in.
On the other hand, Stan’s inclusion starts me pondering Milner’s absence, but I’ll save that for another post I think.
Aston Villa have 7 players in the Actim Index
Not the greatest surprise in the world, but the news is just breaking that Marlon Harewood will be joining Newcastle on loan and is expected to travel with his new team mates to Ipswich at the weekend.
A move like this was always on the cards and it’s frankly quite surprising that it’s taken this long. Marlon has effectively dropped down the pecking order to be fifth choice striker at Villa, but that’s never stopped him giving 110%. Anyone
Making the Carling Cup fourth round draw really shouldn’t be such a big deal, but when you consider that Villa haven’t progressed any further than the fourth round for 5 years you’d be forgiven for hoping to get a decent draw.
I certainly am. Here’s the 16 teams left in the draw, what odds on Man Utd at home?
Aston Villa
Arsenal
Chelsea
Bolton
Barnsley
Everton
Liverpool
Man Utd
Sunderland
Peterborough
Portsmouth
Blackburn
Stoke
Scunthorpe
Spurs
Man City
The draw will be held on Saturday 26th September.
That’s the word on the street anyway. I’ll be confirming the team sheet on Twitter, as always, but I’m hoping this little snippet of info isn’t accurate.
Stuart James at The Guardian had me confused on Monday with his view of what was likely to happen. His opening paragraph contained this information:-
Martin O’Neill has sought to draw a line under the incident that saw him clash with Nigel Reo-Coker during a training-ground practice match after the midfielder apologised for swearing
I won’t do this after every game, but it’s probably worth looking at how things are going this season in comparison with last year every 5 or so games. There’s two comparisons that can be made:-
Chronological – i.e. compare the first 5 games this season with the first 5 last season, regardless of opponent.
Apple for Apples – compare identical fixtures from last season, regardless of when they occurred. Since 3 teams are relegated and 3 promoted each year this
2
Aston Villa
Sep 19th 2009
Portsmouth
0
48
Possession %
52
7
Shots
17
4
On Target
6
7
Corners
5
2
Offsides
2
34′ Milner (Pen), 43′ Agbonlahor
Scorers
Cuellar, Agbonlahor
Booked
Sent Off
202
Passes
240
72
Bad Passes
62
6
Interceptions
16
28
Tackles Won
40
25
Tackles Lost
24
5
Blocks
2
15
Free Kicks
19
Starting XI:
1. Friedel
24. Cuellar
25. Warnock
29. Collins
5. Dunne
19. Petrov
4. Sidwell
7. Young
8. Milner
11. Agbonlahor
10. Carew
Subs:
22. Guzan
18. Heskey
23. Beye
21. Shorey
26. Gardner
16. Delph
14. Delfouneso
Average Position Map