Team News
Scott Dann is out and is likely to be replaced by David Murphy with Liam Ridgewell moving to centre back. New loan signing David Bentley is in the squad.
Ashley Young and Emile Heskey are both suspended so there may be a recall for John Carew.
Last Meeting
Our last meeting was the Carling Cup game and you don’t need me to remind you what happened then. Out last league meeting was a very dull 0-0 at Villa Park in October.
Recent Form
Both teams sit towards the bottom of the Premiership form league with only one win each from their last six. Villa have not won away in the league since September but did get a good win in the cup at Sheffield United last week.
Of course this is a derby so none of that matters.
Outlook
After all the excitement of the cup games it’s time again for all the fun of the derby. For the first time since 2006 the two sides will meet when they are both engaged in a relegation battle. Only one point separates us from our dear neighbours and aside from the normal local bragging rights this is a real six pointer. The winner will get some much needed breathing space, the loser will probably be in the bottom three. With games against Man Utd and Man City coming up we really could do with the three points on Sunday. It’s surprising that the club felt the need to give away free tickets to this one.
The big question for us is which Blues will turn up. Is it the side that played so well against Blackpool (Except for finishing) or the side that played the first half against West Ham. What formation and game plan will McLeish send them out with. If Jerome’s up front on his own I can imagine there will be a lot of murmurings in the crowd. They may end up being the first ever team to get booed coming out on to the pitch! I can’t believe we will see 4-5-1 except maybe because Villa might start that way. They are without Heskey and Young so they probably won’t have two up front. I personally would play the Blackpool team but with Murphy coming in for Dann. I don’t rate Murphy as a defender but he is a good crosser of the ball so adds an extra attacking option. I might also be tempted to play Hleb instead of Beausejour as he has played better in recent games and with Murphy overlapping it won’t be so bad that he comes inside so much. On the right it’ll be interesting to see if Bentley comes straight in or if Seb can hold his place after rejecting Newcastle.
Of course the formation and starting line up won’t matter if they don’t start with the right attitude. Early kick offs can be a bit sleepy so it’s important to be up and at em from the start. As fans we can help with that. By help I don’t mean the kind of nonsense we saw at the Carling Cup game. If we win don’t go running around like we won our cup final, this isn’t it. They’re just an average mid table Premier League side and it’s about time we beat them. I’m not under playing the importance of bragging rights, a league and cup double would be sweet, it’s just that I consider the effect on our relegation fight to be more important.
I expect this to be the usual cagey derby so my prediction is 1-1. That’s always a safe prediction with Blues.
C’mon you Blue Boys!
We are coming to get ya!!!
UTV