Villa – Liverpool; I’m not sure if I should be worried or not.

Of our last two games, Pool and Palace, I’d normally be most worried about the former, probably because it’s rare for us to beat them.
But Palace are in excellent form and have taken 16 points from their last 18, only bettered by Citeh, who we rely on tomorrow.
A glance at the form table is a bit of a surprise really, because while it’s pretty universally accepted by us that we’ve been miles off our best, with our small squad and tiredness having taken their toll, we’ve won two, drawn two and lost two in our last six games.
The surprise then is that Liverpool have done exactly the same.
We’ve actually done better than them if you only take the last five games into account and while I don’t set to much store by previous games, it is at least a bit of an indicator that Liverpool aren’t exactly flying either. Not that they need to be. Third place is guaranteed, so can we hope they will have their holiday attire on?
I doubt it, as we don’t get that sort of luck.

Squad news then and with Villa, a lot is up in the air as the fitness of several players with small injuries, including Nicolo Zaniolo, Youri Tielemans and Alex Moreno is being monitored.
It’s all demonstrative of how fatigue has caught up with the lads.
As for Liverpool, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara are out,but they are hoping Diogo Jota is ready for a return.

A Reds fan who I’m working with in Liverpool has had a bet that Nunez and Watkins will get two shots each and Luiz will be booked. I told him it could be a decent bet, particularly the Luiz part, but that I wasn’t sure about Ollie, as he can sometimes be taken out of the game if the midfield isn’t offering any supply.

I think this game is easily summed up by the fact that if we were in top form, this is a game I’d have been pretty confident of winning.
Unfortunately, we look jaded and slow, hence I don’t think we’ll be able to live with Liverpool’s overall pace and press.
Would a draw do tonight? Maybe, but Spurs need to win both their gams really because a win and a draw would also require them turning round our 8 goal difference in the difference.

The trouble is, I don’t see a draw, as much as I’d probably take it and it’s another game where I just don’t see us winning either.
It’s a 2-1 or maybe even 3-1 defeat, I’m afraid, with us holding our breath tommorow night.

UTV! and come on lads, one last push!

221 Comments

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  1. BFR
    BFR May 15, 2024 at 7:54 pm . Reply

    Postecoglou was absolutely pissed in his post match interview. 😳
    Sounds like an autopsy is about to happen at the lane. And someone’s gonna be held responsible…not a happy chappy by the looks/sounds of it!

  2. BFR
    BFR May 15, 2024 at 8:01 pm . Reply

    Premier League clubs to vote on abolishing VAR! Need 14 out of 20 to vote yes for it to happen. Big news!

    The stupid thing is, and it shows how stupid they are, is they don’t need to bin it. Just fix it! Close Stockley Park. Give the match official a screen to watch the replays whenever he requests. He sees what the fans see and makes the right decision according to the slo-mo replays. Why is that difficult? You could even give each manager 3 VAR calls like tennis pros get with HawkEye. Now there’s an idea!

    1. The Ron Saunders Stand
      The Ron Saunders Stand May 15, 2024 at 8:38 pm . Reply

      Mate, that just ain’t gonna happen, too much money invested in it.
      One thing I have noticed watching European games, there’s an absence of these long delays and it’s seems less finickity than the EPL version.

      1. The Ron Saunders Stand
        The Ron Saunders Stand May 15, 2024 at 9:03 pm . Reply

        Off topic, watching the Chelsea game and this Cole Palmer, doe’s the lads talent know no bounds?
        Goals from the halfway line, headers, the kids special and if big nose don’t take him to the Euros?
        But then again nothing would surprise me with that numpty.

        1. BFR
          BFR May 16, 2024 at 10:19 am . Reply

          Amazing that Pep ditched him. As good as Foden, is he not?

  3. Sidforever
    Sidforever May 15, 2024 at 8:57 pm . Reply

    Well the stupid articles are appearing that despite qualifying for the Champions League we will have to sell players. One report via BDF had an expert stating Villa are between £68 to £107m over PSR rules, then state they are not sure about the nuances of changes for next year.

    I’ve tried to work out savings the club will make on players leaving this year, focusing on salaries not transfer fees from Transfer Market

    Per week
    Leavers:
    Longlet: £150k
    Zaniola £60k
    Samson £48k

    Total: £258k per week and yearly £13.4m

    Club Want to leave:
    Coutinho £125k
    Dendoncker £90k
    Chambers £ 50k
    Hause £8k

    Total: £273k per week and yearly £14.2m

    Grand Total: £531k per week and £27.6m

    Would not surprise me if sold:
    Digne £120k – him & Morano over 30
    Cash £80k – new RB bought in winter & possible new signing
    Olsen £50k – Gauci bought winter
    Carlos £100k – Age & Italian club want him – buy younger.

    Total: £350k per week and £18.2m

    Grand total: £881k per week and £45.8m per year. These are no insignificant amounts and would have a big impact on PSR compliance.

    If all were sold and a big if at that and 4 new £150k players bought in that would still save £281k per week and £14.6m and leave the team stronger and costing less.

    All above is speculative. But with Monchi and Emery knowing what is available and the deadwood to shift, the above won’t be a million miles away from the influencing their decisions.

    1. The Ron Saunders Stand
      The Ron Saunders Stand May 15, 2024 at 9:10 pm . Reply

      Coutinho
      Dendoncker
      Chambers
      Olsen
      Cheers Stevie G 🤦‍♂️

    2. Hitchens60
      Hitchens60 May 15, 2024 at 9:41 pm . Reply

      Don’t believe everything you read in the press.

      NSWE are shrewd operators and all the statements coming out of VP are that we’re OK with these completely stupid PSR rules – one size fits all which it never does!

      That’s not to say we can go mad but I’m convinced we can improve the depth of the squad post 1st July without any problems. However expect us to sell some promising youngsters and also offload some squad members although I really can’t see us selling any of our stars.

      We might also be shrewdly using the loan market.

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