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It’s a game of such irony sometimes. With Aston Villa teetering over the edge of the precipice, local rivals West Brom have the chance to give them a bit of a nudge today.
Do you think that Hawthorns crowd will be up for this one? Just a bit. There’s nothing worse for a team who are struggling than having to go to a small ground and battle with a local rival. West Brom, for so long dwarfed by Villa’s Midlands supremacy in the Premier League era, will be relishing this.
It’s been a week of talking at Villa Park: Stephen Warnock insisting that the players are to blame rather than their manager, Alex McLeish trying to convince outsiders that he has the board’s support, and Randy Lerner issuing press-releases urging the fans to stay faithful. Lerner knows that his austerity measures could now very well cost the club their Premier League place.
Presumably, because he knows no different, McLeish will set his team up not to lose – and inevitably they’ll be no response or Plan B when his side end up falling behind. That being said, nobody has dropped more points from winning positions than Villa this year, which isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of their manager’s philosophy. There’s not much reason for optimism.
A couple of other stats for you:
– Only Wolves have won fewer games than Villa in 2012.
– McLeish’s side are currently on a 7-game winless streak.
– Failure to win two of their remaining three games would see Villa accumulate their lowest ever Premier League points total.
Combine all that with West Brom’s run of winning-to-nil in three of the last four games, and it all looks a bit bleak for the visitors. Part of the Villa support probably believe that when their side really needs to win, they’ll come up with a performance – not so, today more than ever, with the pressure weighing down on them they’ll struggle. There’s nothing to suggest that a change in form is anywhere in their future.
West Brom win, and win easily.
If you do want to donate some money to the bookies, Aston Villa to win is available at 13/5. Good luck with that.
Injury news…
Marc-Antoine Fortune returns for the hosts, but Paul Scharner is doubtful with a fracture in his wrist.
Villa have Richard Dunne available, but will likely be without Emile Heskey, Stephen Ireland, and James Collins.
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