Aston Villa v Brentford: Saturday 6th April, 3pm | Page 6 | Vital Football

Aston Villa v Brentford: Saturday 6th April, 3pm

Think we have all picked out the remaining games we must win. This is such a game, but we have always been able to get back on track following a heavy defeat. The enforced absence for McGinn should mean that he is fully rested and raring to go. If Ollie returns (I think bench), there will be the inevitable comparison between him and Toney, with the pundits looking for more evidence of why he should replace Ollie on the plane.

Mbuemo should be back, which although they are dire away from home, does offer them a significant improvement going forward.

Should win, but wouldn't be surprised if it ended as a draw.
 
Wanting great performances and wins at this stage of the season, where the squad is entering into maximum fatigue, alongside the appalling injury crisis we’ve had is certainly a case of wanting the cake and eating it.

If there’s a time for pragmatism it’s now. It’s win at all costs and if this requires the ugliest football imaginable in order to secure fourth then so be it.
 
Another weekend, another huge game…this is what supporting a club is all about. What a season! Think the return of SJM will give us a great lift today, his tenacity in the middle of the park is just what we need. Really don’t like this Brentford outfit and after the shenanigans at their place there will probably be a bit of needle especially if the wind up merchant Maupay gets on the pitch! Time for cool heads! Just thankful that rather than David Coote, we’ve got a top class ref today in Michael Salisbury to keep control…..gulp!
COYVB…….:utv::utv::utv::utv:
 
Beer's in the fridge ready for the game. It's a late one (although fortunately BST makes the game an hour earlier) but I can't miss this. Can't wait.
 
colavfc said:
Our injuries are crippling us. I have not heard ONE pundit or 'expert' even mention ours.

Imagine if we have 2/3 of these long term injuries fully fit right now and for the second half of the season. We really would be truly challenging for top spot.
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I think it's because Unai refuses to accept any excuses. So while other managers are singing to the hills about their injury problems, Unai just gets on with it.

If he spent half of every press conference bleating on about injuries, the press would focus on it.
 
southend_villan said:
The Watkins/Toney debate makes me laugh. Surely you just take them both and leave Marcus Gashford at home.
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There’s no debate for me, they’re both top strikers. Watkins naturally has had a better season because he’s played all of it, would be interesting to see the stats if Toney weren’t a gambler but I think Watkins would edge it through simply playing in a better team.
 
MrLoverLover said:
I get that, it's not entirely foolproof but it is a pretty handy metric of how you're doing. The eye test tells me that too, I thought we looked much better earlier in the season and our XG backs that up as in pretty much every game up to Burnley (our last game of 2023) bar three or four games we had the higher XG. And we looked and were a bloody good side in the first half of the season.

Since the turn of the year I have found myself more frustrated watching us noticing we are looking worse than our opponents more often than not and checked the XG and low and behold, we had started to record lower XGs than our opponents far more frequently. It's easy to ignore the data but it's absolutely right there in front of you and you can see when you watch the game.

If this is just about getting through the rest of the season playing like this and we still sneak 4th, ok, but if this continues into next season it really won't be good. I'm not necessarily saying we've been found out but it is a concern for me and I'm surprised it isn't for everyone else as you all seem so calm.
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To be honest, I've never been that sure how they calculate XG. Just remember after that after watching the Match of the Day highlights of our 6-1 thrashing of Brighton, the XG for both teams was nearly identical. Haven't paid a blind bit of notice to it since.

Huge game today. C'mon Villa, 3 points please.
 
Langoe66 said:
I comment on plenty of posts, some I agree with, some I dont. To suggest all I want to do is bitch about your posts and 'point score' is a bit daft. I disagreed with one last week where you commented on us looking like an awful team and the one earlier today. I've just re-read my earlier post and I really cant see what upset you so much tbh but if it offended you, I apologise. It's not personal. You responded by telling me to 'use my brain' and 'deal with it' which I could argue was far more personal than anything I wrote and far from 'diplomatic' either.
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It does seem you have personally targeted me in the past, not just the last 2 posts but any post I've made even if it is constructive criticism (which I usually aim for but remember that during games we say things that are over the top, not just me either), I'm more critical than you I realise but every point I have made is based on what I see on the pitch and through stats. It is fact that we are playing worse than a few months ago, most don't seem to mind it but I fear it will cost us 4th place, I guess we'll find out at the end of the season. 5th would still be a bloody good season with all the injuries but there's no guarantee it would mean Champs League for us and if we miss out on that stellar competition which I still haven't seen us play in since I was born after playing so well for much of this season it would feel disappointing to me.

Thank you for your apology though, and I apoligise too for some of my comments.
 
sirdennis said:
I'm so BANG UP for this it's untrue.

3 o'clock seems ages away.
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Yep I'm just killing time now, My son is there parked up again. I'm going in on the train again, as long as they don't call a last-minute strike it should be easy today as no long-distance trains are running.
 
Back to the game, it seems like Ollie and Emi are 50/50 for this one. Olsen did ok the other night and Duran scored but I'd feel more confident of winning if those 2 were starting the game. They'll at least make the bench by the sounds of things.

We had Tim, Rogers and Duran playing against Ciity, who have very little experience at this level, I'd expect a more experienced team today with maybe only Duran starting from those three players if Ollie doesn't make it.
 
My representative is on his way.

I'm slightly concerned that there will be competing demands for screens at the hotel sports bar.
Plenty of different shirts on display today at breakfast. No Villa but one dingle. Could be forced back to the room to watch.
 
A big thing in our favour is Emery’s ability to get a win straight after losing a match. I’m hoping for that kind of grit and character to be on show today.
 
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