WakefieldVillan

Pretty much what I would go for too. I think there's a good argument that a back 3 of 'Konsa Engels Mings' may be our strongest, but not for this game, Engels at times on Sunday looked laboured and against more quick strikers this Saturday in Ings, Long and/or possibly Obafemi/Adams then we need the pace - we also need to defend a little deeper than we did against Spurs. Marvelous for Drinkwater is an obvious one, I still think there is a player in there with Danny but it looks he's played a full 90 after 10 minutes, let's get at them early and there might be a role for him late on when we are seeing out the victory - Fingers crossed. They are coming off the back of 3 consecutive defeats so although their form has obviously improved from early on in the season this is still very much winnable. I can see another high scoring game, but wouldn't it be just fantastic (and less stressful) to ease to a 0-2 victory. Trust me, that won't happen .

Tomorrow night

Honest question without scrolling through 115 pages, is anyone in favour of it?

The El Ghazi one should have been a penalty IMO but for whatever reason, challenges like that aren't punished in the box. Why doesn't VAR pick that one up? I have watched the penalty several times and I still think it is incredibly harsh, Engels does make contact with the ball after he's caught Bergwijn (yet some pundits said he never even made contact with the ball?). The Spurs forward is clever and buys the foul but I agree with Smith - It wasn't clear and obvious so why have VAR over-ruled it and given the penalty? Not for me. Also on the penalty, does anyone have a clear picture/video showing whether there was an offside in the build up? TV replays barely showed this element, but again that didn't look clean cut. Not sure about our appeal for the handball, but again, was it even looked at? The corner we should have got when Grealish had a shot clearly deflected off the Spurs defender, why is that not reversed by VAR? I'm probably sounding bitter, but VAR is w***, yes no doubt it can be improved upon, the laws of the games regarding handballs and offsides are not helping the situation and referee's not viewing the screen themselves, but even that aside it is still spoiling the game no end.

Samatta played well, worked hard, linked up play, not a typical hold-up striker but still capable of doing that at times but also has the ability to run into channels, pressurised Alderweireld for the opening own goal and wasn't too far off with an header, tidy in possession and harassed when he could. He was tired when he came off but in hindsight we should have kept him on because Baston was poor when he came on to be honest. Nearly set them up for a goal then came to challenge for a header when he didnt need to which ultimately led to the goal. Not the best 8 minutes or so but hopefully he will settle in and prove to be of use.

Perhaps so. Or perhaps with our luck he would have got injured on his debut and we would have been forking out wages that we couldn't sustain due to FFP. Who knows eh?! Anyway, I respect your opinion, we do look weak in the centre half position but if Tyrone plays today I think we win that comfortably!

Our club was almost in administration 20 months ago, perhaps signing a Gary Cahill and paying him £100K a week was not the type of signing that our new owners thought would be the best solution moving forward. I'm happy with that. I don't want our club going through the same turmoil. I trust the owners and management and coaching staff and a last minute mistake ain't going to change my mind.

Horrible, just horrible way to lose. I think we deserved a point, just, could of had three, ended up with none. That's football, fine margins, ultimately the Luiz chance at 1-0, the VAR against us and Engels colossal mistake at the death were all massive moments in this game. I predicted 2-2 pre-game but news of the illness to Mings made me feel that this would be a tough ask without our key defender and organizer and I'm not overly surprised by the final outcome. First half we played some really entertaining stuff, we pressed well, showed good intensity and passed and moved well, up there with the best I've seen us play and if we had been more clinical the game may well of been done and dusted. But of course, this is Villa. We all know that ain't gonna happen. The first goal rocked us. The VAR decision for me was incorrect. Extremely harsh pen and definitely not a clear and obvious error. Second half we rode our luck at times and I feel Spurs were the better side, they are no mugs even without Kane (& Erikksen) and unfortunately our defence which we all know is our weakness couldn't cope. Positives, Jack again (best outfield player), Reina great saves - my MOTM, Samatta looked lively & for large spells we looked like a team that can stay in this league. Negatives are obvious to every one but f*** the negativity - let's stay behind the lads we can still do this !

I know emotions are high, but what a ridiculous comment

Top 3 currently are as I expected before a ball was kicked. West Brom will finish Champions and I think if Leeds finish second (please no) then Fulham, with experience of past play-off' success, will join the other two. However if Fulham manage to pip Leeds for auto's then I can see the latter imploding again and it's take your pick from any of the others in the play off positions.

I would also add no Eriksen either who was instrumental in Spurs turning the screw in the reverse fixture. We were 'just' about coping before his substitution, Winks is good on the ball but it's usually all in front of the defence, when Eriksen came on he was picking up pockets of space (as he does) and we inevitably came up unstuck. They have able replacements to the players missing, players like Son, Dele-Alli and Moura on their day have the pace, skill and guile to cause our defence plenty of problems make no mistake, however in front of a packed Villa Park we certainly shouldn't fear them. I would usually take a point and a good performance from games like this but with our away form this season, I have more confidence in picking up 3 points from this match than the following one at St Mary's. Prediction 2-2

Class today but I stuck a fiver on him next goalscorer (25/1) when it was 1-0, can't believe the f**ker passed

The Brighton V's Watford game is the interesting one for sure. I think the draw is probably the best outcome from a psychological aspect as much as anything else as it means we would stay out of the relegation places, however longer term a defeat for either side could have a damaging affect on them which may work in our favour. Following this match Brighton have a difficult trip to Sheffield Utd followed by a "derby" against Palace, whilst Watford face a trip to Old Trafford then runaway leaders Liverpool - therefore conceivably either team could have 3 defeats on the spin which would be demoralising for them, but fantastic for us. Hopefully West Ham not only lose to City, but their goal difference takes a battering too, then again when they travel to Liverpool and of course hopefully Bournemouth return from Bramall Lane pointless! One thing is for certain though, there are going to be results that go against us therefore we have to make sure that we concentrate on our own task ahead and acquire the maximum points possible - hopefully prior to our visit to West Ham on final day so that can be a party atmosphere (for us! )

If we get relegated then 100% Jack goes. If we stay up then I think it all depends on whether the owners and the gaffer can convince Jack that we are aiming for bigger and better things which will be shown with our incoming transfers. For me it really could go either way. Back on topic. Done the predictor and I think 38 points would be enough to keep our premier league status. Looks like it's 3 from 6 currently (or 2 from 5 if you exclude Norwich) but it is possible one of the teams above Brighton could still get dragged into it. I've seen a few people mention us needing 4 wins and I think that's about right, where they come from is anyone's guess, but what a fillip it would be to get 3 points against Spurs next time out. I feel like we've had quite a bit of bad luck this season with terrible injuries, bizarre VAR decisions go against us, playing teams at the wrong times, yet we are where we are and still have it all to play for, with actual strikers on the field and a Wembley final too! Also looking at the fixtures against the likes of Wolves, Chelsea, United and even Liverpool, depending on how these teams progress in Europe, we are due to play each of them right amongst their European ties, therefore potentially playing against weakened sides - I think that might be just the bit of luck that we need and that's been missing throughout the season! Fingers crossed, relegation would be heartbreaking UTV

Don't think that's ridiculous at all, in fact I quite like the look of it. I think Hause is the weakest of our defenders (in possession) and that to me looks our strongest defence (if we're playing a back 3). I would replace Hause on the bench though with Conor, worst case scenario if one of the centre halves get injured we would have the personnel to go to 4 at the back and thus keeping the threat of Conor (well Conor's set pieces) in our locker should we need them. Drinkwater or Luiz - you could go either way with that one, if Douglas replicated his fine substitute performances when starting games the place for sure would be his, but like all young players and many of our team, he is quite inconsistent. I am a fan of Davis regardless of his shy goal tally, he is strong, quick, brings others in to play and I think we need his presence further up the field to take some pressure off the midfield/defence. Samatta looked more lively on Saturday and as you say looks capable of running the channels and interchanging with Davis, could be worth a look that front 3. The biggest problem we have is consistency and I don't particularly blame Smith for this for chopping and changing the team week in week out. I like how he selects the team based on recent performances. Usually if you play well you keep the shirt (perhaps goalkeeper aside), the trouble is the likes of El Ghazi, Guilbert, Trezeguet, Nakamba and Luiz are all new to the league and are finding it difficult to perform to the required standard every week hence the changes - I don't think any of those mentioned are bad players though and we should try have a bit of patience whilst they continue to settle in.

Just came to this thread, literally 5 seconds later "Sweet Caroline" came on the radio.. It's ok lads, we're staying up!

Bad day at the office, but other results have somewhat softened the blow (for me). In hindsight Nyland may have kept his place looking at the goals conceded (but no-one in the pre-match thread called for this). In fact the majority of fans were happy with the starting line up, so no fault to Smith for that. But I do question is in-play substitutions today. Think we should give a little credit to Bournemouth, they made it a scrap and worked tirelessly, our game in midweek definitely had an affect on our performance. Not wanting to single anyone out (I'm going to) but Guilbert was absolutely dreadful today and our right hand side was a non entity all game. Positives; we're all deflated so not many but trying to find some positivity; Samagoal off the mark, showed some nice touches. Davis did well when he came on, he will have a part to play in our run in. We have a third striker waiting in the wings. We have 2 weeks now to get the new lads up to speed. We're not in the bottom 3. Other teams have let BIG leads slip. Lads will be trying to play themselves into a place at Wembley. We have easily the best player out of all the relegation-threatened sides in Jack. We can still do this, despite today.

This is going right down to the wire, disappointing day for us, even a draw would have been an ok result. We're still in with a great chance of stopping up though, we just need to get behind the team as it could be the difference in the run in. Watford have lost to 10 men throwing away a 2 goal lead. West Ham have given away a 2 goal lead twice in one game. Both sides will be feeling a lot worse than us tonight.

Watford losing, bonus.

Will be playing in a higher league next season regardless of whether Brentford gain promotion. Don't get me wrong Hull have been sh*te but he has looked class and one of those players that you can just tell has all the attributes to play at the top level. Much better option than Bowen IMO.

I think I fancied us more before our win on Tuesday than I do right now. Tomorrow is all about having the right mindset straight from kick-off, that's key for me, they flew out of the traps at VP and we gifted them a 2 goal lead which we obviously can't afford to do again. It's a big positive however that Mings will be going back to his old club and will be desperate to show them what they have missed out on. If we defend well then no doubt we have players that can hurt them so here's hoping for a vital 3 points. Same team that started against Leicester except Reina in for Nyland (as well as he did) and I'd start Davis for Samatta for his ability to hold the ball up and bring others in to play, though to be honest I'd be happy with either, it's just nice to have an actual forward on the team sheet! UTV

May as well close the thread then! Smith has said we are still looking at bringing a player (or two) in, so we must have some funds. I don't actually think replacing Jota with Lolley would cost a ridiculous amount and would improve our playing squad. Anyway by no means would he be my first choice and it's obviously not as easy as just swapping players like that on DD!

I think Lolley would be a nice upgrade on Jota (if he was to leave as some reports have mentioned).

I wouldn't class Eze as a winger but I agree I would prefer both him and Benrahma over Bowen, though I think all 3 can make the step-up.

5 points, but still involved despite tonight's result