So, real quick from me as I’m hitting the road and will miss the match in real time. Should be able to catch a replay. But, that’s not the important thing.

Legia have become Villa’s clear rivals to top the group. Winning the group isn’t everything, but it does avoid an extra high-stakes fixture and minutes on the players’ legs. Legia of course shocked Villa in Warsaw, and have proven to be a tough, disciplined outfit. Tonight’s match may not ending up being a thing of beauty, but Villa will most certainly want to avenge the away-leg defeat and put themselves on course to close out the group.

Naturally, I’m expecting a strong side, but I’m not sure what that means other than Emi, Luiz, Kamara, McGinn, and probably Tielemans. I would assume Ollie starts rather than Duran. Tielemans probably replaces Diaby if he does start, but maybe Kamara makes way. Hard to say how Emery will want to attack. It’s not that we didn’t score, we just conceded more. And I haven’t checked the injury updates, so.

But that’s really all I’ve got. The side should be feeling good after coming from behind at Spurs, but no idea how much that took out of them. A quick start, well, we all feel the same about that: yes, please.

Over to you.

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John Clark
John is co-owner of AVL, and has followed the Villa since the '70s. A journalist by trade, he is, by most accounts, a very nice person. You can follow me on Twitter @JClarkKohoutek. It's an astonishing experience. Or a complete waste of time.

Comments 100

  12. r0bb0

    The extra goal would have been nice, to take the pressure off the final game but we shouldn’t get greedy.
    JG, I saw a different Duran than you I think. I struggled to see any positive contributions from him. His self confidence is so much bigger than his contribution as far as I’m concerned. He’s a chunky guy, but falls over like a new born giraffe.
    He waves his hands in the air, tries to tell far more experienced players what to do, doesn’t get himself into goal scoring positions . . . . OK I’ll stop
    Happy to be told I’ve got it all wrong.

  15. r0bb0

    Great to see Ramsey getting some minutes under his belt. Its going to be really important to have both him amd Moreno back, bearing in mind the 9 games we have before the end of the year!

  16. James Gill

    Robbo
    Way I look at Duran, he has been treated like God all his young life and now emery tough love is hard to cope with
    Tonight I though in 2nd half he closed down well,covered back generally worked harder

  17. James Gill

    With the 9 games coming thick and fast it will keep all getting plenty minutes,maybe apart from olsen
    Watching olsen with ball reminds me of sherwoods villa ,stuff of nightmares

  18. r0bb0

    JG. I imagine you’re right about Duran having to realign his thinking and at such a young age it must be taking some adjusting for him.
    I do hope someone he trusts is telling him the same things.
    There are signs that there’s a good player in there, but it’s ‘in’ there, it’s not yet out on the pitch and he’s going to have to buckle down, shut up, and really listen to those who know better than him.

  20. r0bb0

    I saw the delegates at Cop-out28 tonight giving themselves a standing ovation amd thought, oh great. . . Have they actually made progress?

    They were applauding a £300m fund to assist poorer countries most affected by climate change. At first I thought they’d said £300billion and was impressed, and then heard again. . . No they’re saying million.
    It’s fuck all
    The UAE are patting themselves on the back for putting in £79m. . . they spent almost exactly that amount on Josko Gvardiol for Manchester City this summer.
    It’s even worse than that because it gives the impression that you can pump all the oil you want and then put it right by giving a tiny bit of money to a few countries.

    And the BBC seem to have swallowed it

    FFS!!

  23. Plug

    After losing the first group game, you can’t ask more than winning the next four. It’s not quite job though.

    We got off to a flyer and then proceeded to introduce ponderous play at the back when in possession. It soils my underwear!!! Keeper to Kamara to Cash. Lost count of the times. It was so often, the opposition soon clocked it and stationed Muci accordingly. Whilst his goal was in the top bin, some variation playing out from the back is badly needed. We haven’t mastered it yet.

  24. Plug

    Great to see Moreno get a goal. Was it his first for Villa? Wasn’t impressed with Kamara or Tielemans although the latter played a sublime ball through for Di-ar-by……Moussa….Running down the wing to open the scoring.

    SJM was quiet too. Maybe it was the lack of movement in midfield and up front that caused the rubbish stuff at the back when trying to beat the press. Konsa got lucky once or twice when turning back towards our goal but he wasn’t alone.

    Bailey almost got the job done, but I wasn’t sure whether it was a great save by their keeper. Did he get finger tips to the ball over his head?

  25. Plug

    Agree with the debate about Big Jhon. He’s a big unit. He’s bloody fast and had the skinning of the defenders. But his movement along the back line is not at Ollie’s level. Nor his work rate. If Unai can’t get the best out of him, nobody can. I see that he has all the attributes to become a great asset but falling over too easily and moaning at the ref needs to go. He needs to close his mouth and open his ears.

  26. Plug

    The atmosphere was subdued last night at VP whilst all the back line nonsense unfolded. Once the tempo increased during the 2nd half so the crowd became an extra man.

    Despite Legia committing twice as many fouls as us, the ref booked 4 from each side. He seemed happy to let them foul and spoil all night.

    So onwards to Mostar and get the point needed.

  27. James Gill

    Ponderous play,yep it’s annoying, but by god it’s efficient only Everton in league Cup have not been beaten since January at villa Park
    Great to see ramsay moreno playing we definitely need them now mcginn Luis need a rest,even Duran up front gives a chance for ollie to get some rest
    Don’t know how we rest emery tho

  28. Plug

    The Bournemouth blogs are very confident they’ll win tomorrow. News of Ollie’s 50/50 fitness has got them even more excited.

    Their place is not a happy hunting ground for us. Here’s hoping we avoid this banana skin.

  29. James Gill

    What team will emery pick
    Kamara is suspended so definitely a change there
    Bournemouth are a tall team so I would go for
    Martinez konsa torres Carlos digne
    Luis mcginn tielmens ramsay
    Diaby watkins/duran

  31. r0bb0

    I see a couple of the football blog sites are predicting that Ollie is out today, but two of them also I clude Kamara in their squads so it just shows how firmly they have their fingers on the pulse of the club!
    You may have noticed that I wasn’t enamoured of Duran’s performance in midweek, but as I said at the time, there are signs of good skills so I just hope that if he does have to be played today, he concentrates on staying on his feet, working hard, and bringing his footballing skills to the fore.

  32. r0bb0

    JG, yes I’d like to see a fair bit more of Ramsey today too. I’d probably save him till later in the game bearing in mind he was rushed back a bit too quickly fiest time round, but no doubt the physios have monitored him extra carefully before allowing him back on the pitch again this time.

  33. r0bb0

    Someone had suggested that maybe Zaniolo may work in the striker role and if so, Diabi will need to be back to his best and feeding him well.
    As an aside, did you know that Zanilo has seen more premier league action than Jack Grealish so far this season? (I just thought that put Jack’s current status in perspective))

  57. John Clark

    Emery’s surely wanting to manage minutes given the next two matches…Zaniolo needs to find his feet, but he’s not helping anything. Having a very difficult adjustment.

    I could see Ramsey coming on for sure. Not sure how he’s seeing the others (what he wants to do versus what he might be forced to do.)

    And there’s Ramsey for Nicolo.

  63. John Clark

    Yeah, I think that’s the difference between a week’s rest and midweek games. Sharp at times, loose and sloppy at others, AFCB fresh and running hard at us all game.

  67. jbd656

    Great point from a dozy half soaked (tired?) perfomance. Amazing goal from Watkins but Martinez gets my MOTM for keeping us in the game for Watkins to equalise.

    Tielemans blended in well with Luiz and did a very good Kamara type job.

    Duran and Ramsey are opposite sides of the same coin. Both ready to have a youthful hot blooded aggressive go. Duran does it in an impetuous hot headed way whereas Ramsey does it in a steely eyed assassin way. Think Duran could do with a bit of boxing training to channel that agression.

  68. Plug

    Missed the 2nd half but pleased that Ollie pulled a rabbit out of the hat late on. The fixture lists do us no favours having to face a team who didn’t play in Europe in the week and also away from home.

    I’ll put the performance down to our midweek efforts but a game we did well to get a point but might have won without the mistakes.

  71. r0bb0

    Big respect to Ollie Watkins. You think of the undeserved criticism he’s taken in recent seasons and yet he still comes back, provides assists and scores goals and along with Haaland is way ahead of other strikers this season.
    Just watching Haaland miss another 2 chances, one of which Harry Redknaps ‘Great’ grandmother could have scored!

  72. VillaMD

    R0bb0,

    Ollie goal was best I’ve ever seen. High ball in, he jumped and it came behind him. Somehow he arched his head backwards and stuck it in the top corner. He made the impossible- possible.

    Everyone can have an opinion. However, anyone that doesn’t respect Watkins – you’re a joke in my view

  73. VillaMD

    I think Tielemans is brilliant. I’d start him over Kamara or SJM. Probably the latter.

    Duran – major attitude issue. Such a talent and so disappointing

    Carlos – not EPL standard, ok backup

    Bailey – class

    Zaniolo – getting worse every game. Hopefully a clause to ship him back in Jan

  81. Plug

    Four points from 2 away games at Spurs and Bournemouth. Very happy with that. We are progressing as a team and club. Anything from the next 2 games will be a bonus. Can we get something? For sure, other teams have.

  82. James Gill

    Plug
    Yep 4 points from 2 away matches is excellent return,I would have been a harsh critic of previous players yet now I find it hard to fault any of them
    Yes it hasn’t clicked for zanilo yet but if emery trusts him that’s good enough for me

  83. James Gill

    For city fame only 2 places not secure yet
    Martinez cash konsa torres digne
    Luis mcginn kamara
    Watkins then 2 from tielmens ramsay diaby and Bailey
    Not a bad side plus subs

  84. r0bb0

    So both his and City have cause to complain about refereeing decisions from yesterday.

    In fairness, City’s was worse than ours, with that totally inexplicable late whistle which stopped Jack in his tracks. I’m not convinced Jack would have gone on to score it, but he should at least have been given the chance.

    The failure to send Semenyo off was equally bizarre and the referee must have known it at the time.

    Again, there’s no guarantee that it would have enabled us to go on and win the game as we’ve seen before how difficult it can be to play against 10 men, but we should at least have been given the chance!

  85. r0bb0

    JG, I feel the same about Zaniolo. It’s not going for him just at the moment, but If Emery is still seeing something in him then it’s worth persevering. I remember at the start of the season we were quite positive about him, but he needs something just to click into place again . . . probably a goal!

  86. r0bb0

    It’s all too easy to jump too quickly to conclusions about players. You think how Leon Bailey was written off by many and yet he’s now starting to show his worth.

  87. Ian

    Been feeling a rant coming on all day regarding referees.
    Obviously you have good ones and not so good ones. Actually 50% of them are the poorer ones. But I don’t blame the refs so much as the managers and the ones who run the Premier League and EFL.
    Let’s face it, the players we see play today are the very best or at least we are led to think that. They’ve been coddled since they were 6. Told they were the unicorn of the next generation. Everything handed to them on a gold plate in an effort to keep them and not lose them to a “big” team. Like what happens when a “big” team decides you belong to them. Only to be coddled….etc. etc. You’ve developed a prima Donna, my shit don’t stink attitude or in simpler terms an asshole. Now, not all are like that but their actions and demands spread to the players around them.
    A referee, especially in the Premier League has had a lot of experience coming up through the ranks and is usually at the top of his game when most players are retired. You have a scenario where 20 something years olds are screaming at a ref who is in their 30 somethings at the earliest. How long would you stand for that? You hand out just punishment only for the league to rescind it the next day. Only to have players and the odd manager follow you down the tunnel, for fans to gather up their courage and throw bottles at you from the midst of a crowd. And for what? Every so-called miscarriage of justice carries the same level of vitriol towards him or her. Grow a stiff upper lip? Fuck that.
    There are going to be plenty of poor calls in every game. It happens, split second decisions are difficult to get right everytime. VAR just muddies up the situation and winds everyone up. It has become a shit show and I’m guessing the refs don’t give as much care as they could when they get disrespected, overturned, and assaulted at any given moment.
    Yup, 23 year old Prince Charlie’s running the show and adults getting blamed for everything.
    On a side note, a playoff game in the MLS league had horrendous reffing. Even I could see that. Obviously the team on the losing end were grievously wounded and players and manager got into the act in the final moments of the game. It was suggested the ref would be lucky not to be floating in False Creek that evening. Plenty of fingers were given. And the crowd chucked whatever they had at hand. The final result? No rescinding of punishments but eight players given a one game suspension, one a three game suspension and an rd card and the manager? A seven game suspension and a red card. The league stands behind the refs good and bad. The same should be done in the Premier League.

  89. r0bb0

    Are you showing some sympathy towards referees Ian. . . . . whatever next?

    It is a thankless task though, and of course the ex footballers (often, minor ex footballers) don’t who now act as pundits, don’t help, by taking several minutes analysing the one or 2 mistakes made by the referee that may have changed the course of a game. Every footballer will make one or more mistakes during a game, but they’re rarely quite as visible, and certainly less discussed and criticised.

    Take the Man City Spurs game this weekend. That spoilt brat Haaland, screamed at the referee with his face (that only a mother could love) within inches of the referee’s. Now admittedly, it was a bad mistake by the referee, but I’d suggest it wasn’t as bad as the open goal that Haaland missed from less than 10m in front of an open goal earlier in the game. Haaland of course has paid way more to make his mistake than the referee was.

    Whilst I have genuine sympathy for referees (heck, just running the line for my son’s under 11 games used to be tough enough!), it won’t stop me being critical of them when they make mistakes.

    It’s partly my sympathy for them that leaves me with absolutely no doubt at all that VAR is the right way to go. I do feel they are being badly let down by the authorities in the way they are managing it though. It seems that part of the problem may be the company administering it. In this day and age, and with the amount of cash at their disposal there really is no excuse at all for the delays and questions around basic decisions such as offside. I do hope that the new company taking over the VAR contract has won it on the back of half decent technology!

    It seems that the handball rules for a penalty differ in the rest of Europe from the Premier league, which explains why the penalty was given in the Champion’s league game against Newcastle when it shouldn’t have been in the Premier league. for goodness sake, lets at least get consistency in rule making.

  90. r0bb0

    One other thought on VAR. It took 4 minutes to rule Carlos’s goal out on Sunday. . . . . If it takes that long then it isn’t clear and obvious.

    How about setting a time limit and if they’ve not been able to see the clear and obvious error in that time then it isn’t clear and obvious enough and the goal stands?

  91. Plug

    I approve of the idea that VAR should have a time limit on any decision of say 10 seconds. If it fails to positively make a ruling then it is timed out. It goes without saying that technology needs to improve though. We have the referee’s watch that instantly informs if the ball has crossed the line or not. We need something similar for offsides which needs to be automatically decisive if off side. Like the line calls in tennis, where nobody queries the technology, even if it is not exactly representing the situation but is always accepted as correct. Other VAR intercepts for things like red/yellow card tackles, penalty shouts and the like I’d leave to the on field ref and bin that part of VAR. Al least goals could then be cheered again without fear.

    The officials themselves are a motley crew. They are supposed to only be involved with teams who are neutral to their own favourites. But what if an official is in charge of another game that involves direct competition to his own favourite team? So many options are available for biased decisions.

    Some decisions stink. Like the one at Citeh (Simon Hooper). Like the one at Palace against Villa (Kevin Fraud). Like the one at Manure (Simon Hooper again) where Onana assaulted the Wolves player in the box. Are they really that incompetent? I don’t think so. Is it a conspiracy theory? I don’t think so. Is there an underlying interest? It happens too often to disregard. In simple terms, the EPL is bent in the eyes of so many fans. Money has tilted the playing field in favour of certain teams. It might be time to start investigating bank accounts of officials.

    Despite all of the above, Haarland was well out of order with his rant. I understand it because these guys are winners and the stakes are high. But it cannot be condoned. The ruling body should administer retrospective justice against him in the form of an automatic 3 game ban. Same with other players with retrospective bans ranging from 1 to 3 games depending on severity.

    Just my thoughts guys.

  92. r0bb0

    Plug, I’d thought the same as you about offsides being electronically recorded. I imagine it would use some sort of microchip in the shirt of each player. There’d need to be a change to the rule so that it was the position of this chip that mattered rather than the furthest forward part of the player, or maybe there’s one in the toe of every sock, but it shouldn’t be beyond the wit of man to work it out. Likewise, we should always know when the ball is in or out using similar technology.

    I would still use VAR for penalties as it has already been used to correct many wrong refereeing decisions, I just wish they’d find a more sensible way of applying ‘clear and obvious’. I think your 10 seconds may be a bit too quick, but somewhere between 30 and 60 should be fine. Four minutes is clearly a nonsense!

    You voice your concern about corrupt officials, and if you do think that, then taking as many controversial decisions out of their hands as possible, really should be the way to go.

  93. r0bb0

    The thing is, it’s so much easier to find error in things we’re not happy with than to make suggestions of how to improve stuff.
    That seems to me to be then problem with VAR right now.
    Mistakes are being made
    It’s slowing the game down
    It’s still too arbitrary in many ways.
    Inevitably then fans are critical of it.

    Imagine it the other way round though.
    Imagine we’d always had VAR and we now tried to switch to all decisions being made by referees on the pitch in real time.
    We’d have the ‘pundits’ rolling out the dozens of clear and obvious mistakes being made every single week and we’d all be up in arms about the travesty of leaving decisions to referees, who are demonstrably nowhere near as capable of making correct decisions as the VAR operators.

    VAR is here to stay.
    It’s already correcting dozens of human errors
    It will improve still further as the use of technology improves

  94. Plug

    Will be heading to VP later on. Not expecting anything other than a tough, tough game. If we can get something from the game, it will be a bonus and I will be over the lunar.

  95. Jackvilla

    The match today is very important for us to get a result and i think we could get another statement win.
    I think Emery will drop Carlos, Tielemans and Zaniolo tonight and our line up could be; Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Kamara, McGinn, Luiz, Ramsey, Watkins and Bailey. 3-1 to the Villa!

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