Turns out 5-0-0 wasn’t meant to be. Shame, that. And even more so since the inevitable first defeat was a bit resounding. Bielsa won the first PL round with Smith, and Leeds ran away clear and deserved winners. However, it wasn’t as inevitable on the night as it turned out looking.
Tough, quality win at Leicester Sunday followed by a completely different test against Leeds tonight. Adding a bit of froth is the recent history between the two sides and the way the press has handled Marcelo Bielsa compared with Dean Smith.
It’s hard to overstate what an important victory this was. No, we didn’t win anything, and no it won’t continue like this. But to come off the high of dismantling Liverpool, go away for two weeks, and return to grind out a win on the road against an undermanned but still highly capable and well-drilled Leicester squad shows a different mentality in the team. It’s not a game we’d have won last season. Neither was Liverpool, for that matter, but who’s counting?
All the superlatives have been used for a historic night. The absolute last thing anyone expected, most certainly the defending champions. And me. But now Villans have two weeks to enjoy a surreal 7-2 pasting of Liverpool to go second with a game in hand.
With only two matches played against struggling clubs, it’s hard to know whether or how much Villa are improved, but we’ve not yet seen the full impact of the summer’s business so far. However, Barkley is coming straight in, and Traoré is on the bench.
