It’s City, finally, and a funny time to be playing them given their recent form and the 3-3 draw with Spurs. They’re not at their best and they need a win, never mind the three points.
For Villa, it’s inevitably going to be seen as a referendum on both our aspirations and quality. Anytime you’re an outsider dancing around the top 4, well, there are going to be questions until you notch a signal victory. Is tonight the night?
Over the course of five days Villa swept aside reining Conference League champions West Ham and their semifinal opponent AZ Alkmaar, each by a 4-1 scoreline. I was somehow suddenly a bundle of nerves after AZ pulled one back, so the ghosts of Villa past certainly haven’t left me. But the performances have been real.
Another interminable international break (well done, Ollie), and now another bogey team for Villa. Dunno what it is, but winless in 10 against the Irons since 2015 is something Emery will want to put right, especially given the next three league matches are ones Villa will think they should be winning.
So here we are, start of a new season, and this one’s full of hopes and expectations. Me, I’m cautiously optimistic. Which is probably what I’ll have put on my gravestone. As Emi Buendia’s injury illustrates, football can be cruel no matter how well you look to be set up. But. Emi’s only one player and Emery’s reaction has been excellent. Villa were never going to live or die based solely on Buendia.
Preseason is now history, and Villa have come through the summer’s six matches unbeaten. Not a bad showing given the competition and some of the conditions, and from the outside, it seems to have been a very useful training camp.
