As you’re probably all too aware, the 1-1 draw at QPR on Sunday was our 5th draw of the season. And we’ve only played six games. And we remain unbeaten. You knew that, right?
Of course you did.
You might not be aware that this means we’ve drawn 83.33% of the (admittedly limited number of) games so far, or that we’ll finish up drawing 31 or 32 games by the end of the season if this pattern continues. It won’t continue of
An injury time own goal by Richard Dunne cancelled out a second half penalty by Barry Bannan to end yet another game in stalemate, but a win would have been thoroughly undeserved.
The first half is not worth talking about. It was as bad as anything I’ve seen from Villa in recent years and, let’s face it, we’ve seen some poor stuff lately. QPR bossed two thirds of the possession and managed to outpass us almost 2:1.
The second half was a
It’s our first away trip to QPR since 1995 and we’re in dire need of a better result than the 1-0 loss we suffered that day after the downbeat nature of our Carling Cup exit.
With Darren Bent and Emile Heskey injured, here’s how the managers will go looking for three points today:
QPR
Aston Villa
1
Patrick Kenny
1
Shay Given
18
Luke Young
2
Alan Hutton
35
Anton Ferdinand
6
James Collins
5
Fitz Hall
5
Richard Dunne
13
Armand Traore
3
Stephen Warnock
11
Alejandro Faurlin
25
Barry Bannan
17
Joey Barton
19
Stiliyan Petrov
4
Shaun Derry
16
Fabian Delph
32
Shaun Wright-Phillips
7
Stephen Ireland
10
Jay Bothroyd
10
Charles N’Zogbia
7
Adel Taarabt
11
Gabriel Agbonlahor
Subs
Subs
26
Brian Murphy
22
Brad Guzan
2
Bradley Orr
23
Habib Beye
14
Ákos Buzsáky
34
Shane
With five league games gone, I’m afraid it’s time for the return of This Season vs Last Season – lucky number 13. The series was born during the 2009/10 season as dissenting voices towards Martin O’Neill’s stewardship grew louder and louder. Lots of comparisons were made to how many points we had at the same stage of the previous season, but comparing the fixtures on a like-for-like, or apples-to-apples, basis revealed that we were often doing better than the previous
Dare I suggest that we can concentrate on the league now? No? Didn’t think so. Nevertheless, we are out of the Carling Cup thanks to a 2-0 loss at home to Bolton in what, by all accounts, was an utterly dismal performance.
Chris Eagles picked up on a Marc Albrighton mistake to score a screamer from 20 yards. Gael Kakuta picked hit a shot on the turn from the edge of the box and beat Shay Given in the bottom corner.
Alex
Bolton come to Villa Park for the 3rd round of the Carling Cup, Alex McLeish has fielded a very strong side and Owen Coyle is able to hand Stuart Holden his first appearance since his knee injury at the tail end of last season.
Aston Villa
Bolton
1
Shay Given
1
Adam Bogdan
2
Alan Hutton
2
Gretar Rafn Steinsson
5
Richard Dunne
5
Gary Cahill
6
James Collins
31
David Wheater
3
Stephen Warnock
11
Ricardo Gardner
19
Stiliyan Petrov
7
Chris Eagles
25
Barry Bannan
6
Fabrice Muamba
7
Stephen Ireland
8
Stuart Holden
12
Marc Albrighton
21
Darren Pratley
14
Nathan Delfouneso
28
Gael Kakuta
11
Gabriel Agbonlahor
24
David Ngog
Subs
Subs
22
Brad Guzan
22
Jussi Jaaskelainen
23
Habib Beye
4
Paul Robinson
34
Shane Lowry
20
Robbie Blake
16
Fabian Delph
16
Mark Davies
38
Gary Gardner
10
Martin Petrov
10
Charles N’Zogbia
14
Kevin Davies
Graham
Another game, another draw. That’s four draws and a win now in the Premier League. Gabby Agbonlahor gave cause for optimism when he opened the scoring somewhat against the run of play during the first half, but Leon Best cancelled that out during a second half the visitors largely controlled.
Gabby has now equalled his league goal scoring record from last season, scoring three goals from just five games. Barry Bannan started in place of Emile Heskey and played on the
The Geordies are back at Villa Park for what is a battle between two unbeaten sides, albeit after just four games. Alan Pardew’s side managed to hold Arsenal to a goalless draw in their opening game, took a credible three points at Sunderland and the same again against Fulham at St. James’.
Newcastle have lost this fixture for the last three seasons and have only managed to leave Villa Park with all three points twice in the last ten years.
They were
There’s no getting away from it, that was a poor performance against an Everton side unable (or unwilling) to field a single recognised striker. We might owe a somewhat sheepish nod in the referee’s direction, but Petrov and Gabby somehow managed to cancel out Leon Osman’s opener and Leighton Baines’ second half penalty to grab a hugely valuable point we barely deserved.
Any hope I harboured of Everton being bogged down by their off-field issues were killed off immediately as the