Villa – Leicester; Feeling pretty confident

I really shouldn’t say it, as we all know that when it comes to the Villa, getting confident usually leads to us not getting the result we expect.
But I can’t go into every game feeling pessimistic can I? It’s not in my nature, as much as I try to keep my enthusiasm down when it comes to football.

I’ve always found this particular fixture something I can’t get excited about for some reason.
It’s unfair really, as although I’ve had it in my head that Leicester are a bit of a non-entity, a quick look at this site tells us it’s actually the tenth largest city in the UK and as such, it should be no surprise that they do pretty well sometimes.
Actually that site is quite interesting because it well and truly puts Manchester firmly in it’s place.
Second city, my arse.
But I digress. I just like a good list.

Squad news first and the big news is that Leon Bailey is out with a quad problem and we won’t see him before christmas. While it’s refreshing to hear a call from Gerrard that doesn’t emulate Dean Smith with his totally non-informative updates, it’s incredibly disappointing that the player is injured again. He’s beginning to look like a really poor signing. It’s okay them having lots of skill and costing a fortune, but if you don’t see them on the pitch, they’re a waste of time and money. But then, we have a few of those, don’t we?
A big part of me wonders if Bailey is one of those who just doesn’t fancy it, particularly in the cold, but a quick Wiki shows he made 56 appearances in one and a half seasons at Genk, before rattling up 119 appearances in three and a half seasons at Leverkusen.
That’s surprisingly good and I think I’m being harsh. We’re seemingly just unlucky.

Danny Ings may be available, but any decision will be left until last minute. The position on Matt Targett is uncertain, as it’s not known if his head injury would be classed as a concussion, but he’ll also be a last minute decision. Otherwise, nothing has changed.

As for Leicester, Youri Tielemans and James Justin have returned to training but are unlikely to feature.
James Maddison is fit after being treated in their game against Southampton.

The main thing around this game is who will Stevie G pick to play?
A lot of the side picks itself, after a pretty impressive second half against Man city, even if the first half was pretty dreadful.

The back four go without saying, but if Targett does prove to be not fit, I assume Ash Young drops in. Talking of who, I saw on one of those market value sites the other day that he has a value of only £900k. When you consider we paid £5 million to loan Ross Barkley, how good was that bit of business in getting Ash for free? We do get it right sometimes.
I’m hoping Targett is fit, because having Young as a backup gives me quite a comforting feeling knowing that he can come in and not be absolutely rubbish.

Does the manager go with Luiz and Nakamba again? That’s a tricky one, because while Dean Smith dropped Nakamba at the drop of a hat, he’s actually just been voted player of the month which is a great call in my opinion, as he’s been excellent.
Yet, if both he and Luiz play, it doesn’t leave any room for Ramsey and I’m pretty sure the manager will want him on the pitch today.
I don’t envy Gerrard making that decision.
And I haven’t even mentioned Sanson, who’s also an option.
It’s all a bit strange as just a few weeks ago we were moaning about how poor the midfield was and we now have what seems to be an abundance of riches. Well, options anyway.
And then there’s the younger lads, like Chukuemeka, Philogene-Bidace, the younger Ramsey and Archer to bear in mind too.
Who’d be a manager, with so many cards to shuffle eh?

With Bailey out, it seems logical to go with El Ghazi on the left, as much as I’m just not a fan of him and I’d expect that’s what will happen. If Ings proves fit, I guess you could put Watkins out wide, but even though I think he’s been poor over the last couple of months, the fact is he’s scored two in the last three games. If a striker is scoring, you have to leave him in place to my mind.

And that basically leaves Buendia. I so want him to come right for us and he has shown some really good touches in his play. He undoubtedly has an eye for a pass and seems a good player. But he’s been absolutely awful overall pretty much whenever he’s come onto the pitch.
Fair play to the manager, he’s giving Emi every chance to play himself into some form and hopefully it will come.
But you have to wonder how long a team can continue looking like it’s a man down for long periods of the game.
I can see Buendia being replaced and relegated to the sidelines come the winter window if he doesn’t improve.
He’ll start today, even after I’ve said all that about him.

So as I’ve said, I’m reasonably confident here.

I see goals. Three of them to be precise.

And the points go to us.
Villa to win 2-1

UTV!