It’s Friday, there’s football, and still no Jack Grealish. Does it matter against Newcastle? Who knows. But the barcodes are starting to get nervy, Steve Bruce is in the cross-hairs again, and Villa aren’t the same without their best player. However, they should be getting at least a little bit used to not having him.
Struggling Sheffield tonight after a hard-fought victory over Leeds, which was basically a lesson in how to nullify a team that simply wants to run you into the ground. Get in their faces, get a lead, then dare them to show enough quality to break you down. Integral to that plan were runners. So we saw Ross Barkley dropped, along with Douglas Luiz. Jacob Ramsey and Marvelous Nakamba didn’t disappoint. So, naturally, there were calls for the two to start again. They will, and you can’t say they don’t deserve it.
Whether Ross Barkley should be dropped has been the topic doing the rounds, lately, and Smith seems to have seen enough after defending him in the build-up to this evening’s match against Leeds United. As many Villans have suggested during the week, he’s gone with a fresh and fast side.
After a few days’ research into an offside rule no one quite seems to understand, much less agree with, Villa will pick themselves up from the 0-2 defeat to City in their first post-Covid match, and look for a better return against struggling Newcastle and once-again-under-fire manager Steve Bruce.
Off the heels of Villa’s dramatic, injury-time victory over a dogged Wolves side, it’s time for Burnley. Which is never really a game anyone wants to play. But, they’re in the league, so you have to.
