Aston Villa travel to the Britannia Stadium this Saturday to face Stoke City. Stoke have enjoyed good home from yet again this season, having most recently beaten Chelsea at the Britannia. Aston Villa may have poor form home, but are a much better side away. Playing on the counter has helped Aston Villa beat the likes of Arsenal, Southampton and Norwich so far this season.
However a common result for both teams have been ties, in total Aston Villa and Stoke have managed a total of 10 draws between them. A very possible result for tomorrows game.
Team News:
Stoke maybe without defender Ryan Shawcross who limped off with a groin injury against Man. Utd in the League Cup last Wednesday. On-loan, Stephen Ireland is ineligible to play against his parent club.
Aston Villa welcome back Delph from suspension with but will be without Gabriel Agbonlahor as he faces a one-match ban. Chris Herd is back following a facial injury and Ron Vlaar remains a long-term casualty.
Match Facts:
Stoke City have lost just one of their last seven Barclays Premier League matches (W2 D4 L1)
Christian Benteke has now gone 11 hours and 59 minutes without scoring a Barclays Premier League goal.
Aston Villa have conceded more handballs than any other Premier League team this season (15).
Only four teams (Arsenal, Tottenham, Man Utd and Everton) have won more away points than Aston Villa (12) this season.
No team has been awarded more penalties than Aston Villa (3) this season.
Since they arrived in the Premier League in 2008, Stoke have taken 2507 long throws, 1271 more than any other side.
Predicted Lineups
Begovic
Cameron-Huth-Wilson-Pietres
N’Zonzi-Whelan
Assaidi-Adam-Arnatovic
Crouch
Kozak-Benteke
Bacuna-Delph-Westwood-Albrighton
Luna-Herd-Clark-Lowton
Guzan
Match Prediction:
Stoke 0-0 Aston Villa
Both teams can’t score, it’s as simple as that. Alright, that’s a little harsh on Stoke, they did beat Chelsea 3-2. But it will be a tough game for both sides. Aston Villa will play on the counter and a good result will very much depend on our defence. If the defence can keep a clean sheet until half-time, Villa could probably nick it. But if Villa concede early again, it’ll be a similar story to Fulham.
Another wimperinf loss to a shite team we should be getting 3 points against home or away. I want Lambert out now!
Me too but it won’t happen he will be here for this season at least I’m afraid
We are shit and the football this season is the worst I have seen, I use to watch a Sunday league team and there coach had a better idea about tactics. Time to get shot. WE want our Villa back….
Another great Christmas for Villa unfolding with Lerner and Lam-berk in charge. Disgusting result, disgusting performance but I’m apathetic to it all now. We’re a joke club, with mediocrity pulsing through at every level. We deserve the inevitable relegation coming our way soon (might not be this season but in the next 3 for sure) and then AVFC will rot away thanks to the muppets in charge.
I’ve come to the conclusion that all us fans are now of that same mind we don’t have a clue as to what’s going on with our club, Lambert just has no idea what his next move is, our club been taken over by incompetent so called owner, manager, and inept coaching staff, as one of our posters said we are on the road to being a small club and ending up with just memories. We still have posters that think it will just go away, it won’t, amateur footballers from other countries thinking England’s the place to earn a fortune, and when we have a manager that dreams the way forward it to get eager willing so called players from abroad that cannot fight the fight we don’t stand a chance in being what our fans call for, a football team. I don’t now have the energy to bother with amateur people running Aston Villa, will now think where my hard earned pension goes, bollox to the owner.
I agree football dead its not just lerner that needs to fuck off but all unless owners
The whole ethos of pl coming was to take us up a level after mclown and to play attractive football. IMO I cannot tell the difference between the 2. We might as well have kept AM as we wouldn’t be any worse off than we are now.
Oohah its failed, he’s not going to admit the jobs to big for him, he will just bluff his way until its to late, the mans a buffoon, The whole of the clubs in a dream that’s turned into a nightmare for the fans, that’s not football , we are a laughing stock to football in my opinion, unless he has the bottle to demand we change in mid stream and pay decent wages to willing football’s and get English youth, we will get worse.
Agree bill but all Lerner cares about is staying up. If he can do that on the cheap which is what he us doing then why spend big if that’s your ambition. Lambert will not be sacked I’m afraid unless we fall into bottom 3 then it will be to late.
We don’t actually know what Lerner wants do we? He tried pumping in masses of money, now he’s trying it a different way. Surely we want to keep Lerner but bring in someone who knows how to run the football side of things? And some kind of statement of intent from the owner wouldn’t be a bad thing. I can’t help think – and it shocks me to think this – OOHAH, your point about us being no better than with AM in terms of the enjoyment we get from watching the football is a very good point. We go to watch the football because we want our club to win and play good football. If the team is doing neither it’s a hell of a lot of money we’re throwing away for what?
I still think Lerner is misguided. I don’t think he’s a bad owner. But then who knows what he is and what he’s doing with (lights blue touch paper and runs!) his club. We all shouted about AM and stopped going to matches and Lerner sacked him. I’m not sure we can get rid of Lerner so easily, if we actually wanted to. Having said that we’re the ones who go to matches and watch a team play, so if the Villa continue to lose at home the attendances will drop and it becomes a financial decision. Do we think though that Lambert’s contract contains get out clauses after Lerner had to pay off the last three managers?
So true foxy and at least last season we played more entertaining stuff but it seems like this is a casualty to improve our defence. Seems like lambert can either get defence right or attack right but can’t do both. Also their is no quality in the team at all esp in midfield.
Entertaining football. Like that back heel by Benteke to Wiemann. Last season ended on a high, didn’t it? The players proved they (on the whole) could play and we didn’t do so badly. This season no one seems capable of playing together and yet they’ve all previously shown they can do it. I really don’t think they’re as bad as they currently look (with the exception of Tonev, but will Lambert keep playing him to see whether he comes good?), or specifically as the manager makes them look. They definitely look like 11 individuals and one tactic.
OMG! see lamberts interview on MOTD after the game, its truly laughable because he’s trying to say the usual stuff he says but clearly has no conviction about what he is saying.
that is a man under pressure and a man who has run out of excuses so much he can barely say the words.
if it wasn’t so sad it’d be piss funny.
But we go again lol. Bit like dol were an honest bunch of lads, mon we lost but they are a fine side lol
NM all down to the wind mate (in PL’s alternate universe).
that’s right bws apparently stoke must have had some kind of wind proof magic as it didn’t affect them as much.
gotta say crouchs goal looked like handball all day although it was completely glossed over on motd so I couldn’t really tell.