Villa return to league action at Portman Road, facing an Ipswich Town side who were shown the League Cup door by Exeter and have not exactly gotten off to a flyer in the league. Though Villa fared better in terms of their result, it was hardly vintage stuff, and Villa were rather lucky to keep a clean sheet, never mind advance. Paul Hurst and Steve Bruce will both be looking for more from their teams.
There are a lot of layers here, so let’s start by saying I’m not looking to go overboard. It’s easy to do, especially at such a critical juncture for the club. So let’s just say I’m happy Jack Grealish is staying. The kid is Villa enough to stick with the side when it might go against his best interests, and how many times have we seen that over the last decade?
After a dizzying summer, all of a sudden Villa’s first match is upon us. And it seems almost like an afterthought, even thought it’s hugely important for any number of reasons. This is why a traditional season preview just hasn’t been working for me right now. So here’s the crap version.
Villa hosted Fulham Saturday, and came away with a hard-fought three points. It was a good win against a decent side, and an important one for confidence and league placement after the defeat at Molineaux.
League football is back, and now it gets interesting, starting with this evening’s derby clash with Wolves. September’s favorable stretch of fixtures against teams in the bottom half of the table comes to an end, and all eyes will be on Steve Bruce’s men to see how they fare against tougher opponents now that there’s some confidence and continuity in the squad.
