WakefieldVillan

Shame about Davis because he is decent at holding the ball up and bringing others into play, something we're clearly lacking without Wes. I'm not too sure RHM would offer much more than El Ghazi to be honest, having said that at least it would allow us to play Anwar in his correct position. Really disappointing not to have any reinforcements in.

Welcome Pepe! Not seen an awful lot of him since his Liverpool days where he was a very capable keeper, hopefully he will be a solid acquisition like Heaton was looking to be, prior the injury. A clean sheet Saturday would be a great start!

Like the look of that but I think Davis is going to be out a while longer hence no one else selecting him

That's pretty much how I am seeing things, but I don't think we could afford to go into the next set of games with that front two and expect to gain maximum points. #prayforastrikerortwo

Lambert, is that you?

Reina Konsa Phillips Mings Guilbert Nakamba Drinkwater Targett Grealish Benteke Morelos or Reina Guilbert Konsa Mings Targett Nakamba Drinkwater Grealish Benrahma Morelos Bowen Yes i'm bored.. but hopefully we have some new signings, especially a striker... If we don't I think it will be a 2-0 defeat I'm afraid! UTV

Yesterday again showed why he doesn't usually get selected against the better teams where we normally see less of the ball. I watched Conor many a times for Barnsley (I get it was in the lower league's) and he was never afraid to get stuck in and put himself about a bit, but I've barely seen him do that at all for Villa in his time here. That was the worst thing for me yesterday, not just Conor but the whole team, where was the fight, the aggression, the tackling... absolutely none of it, dreadful.

I think him being directly involved in us conceding three goals is pretty bad to be fair mate. I also think you're being a tad harsh on Hourihane and Lansbury, from a technical aspect I think both are a pretty capable, it's the other deficiencies in their game which is a problem. I would say he's technically head and shoulders over Nakamba and Luiz though. Anyway, the first 15 minutes showed to me he can be an asset to us and an upgrade to what we have, just needs to get to full speed and like you say time unfortunately isn't on our side with massive games coming up.

Was really impressed with him away at Leicester, looked commanding, looked a big frame in the goal, looked confident, made several decent saves and I was questioning the decision to bring in Reina. Today showed very much why we're in for Reina. Abysmal.

Voted Grealish MOTM but only cos he had to endure 90 minutes of that turgid Villa performance and deserves so much more than what his team mates offered today. Trezeguet was lively when he came on and fair play to him. In hindsight his and Nakamba's energy could have made things a little more bearable to watch. The team selection and notable inclusion of Drinkwater backfired immensely and he contributed to 3 (I think) of their goals. I'm not going to write him off because as daft as it sounds in the first 10 minutes he looked ok but then his legs went - 50 minutes before I thought they would. Was always going to be extremely difficult to get anything from the game as we all knew, but the players well n truly looked beaten before a ball was kicked and then it was just a case of keeping the score down. Defensively were shocking and having no real focal point to our attack meant it was just wave after wave of attacks and it was a painful watch. I rated Smith very poor but I think the players still let him and themselves down today and I wont be calling for his head off the back of this game. We need to regroup, get some signings in and do our upmost to stay in this league. Fair play to the Villa crowd that were still there singing at the end, class that.

**** it I'd drop the 5 at back at HT, were just inviting them on anyway. Nyland Guilbert Konsa Mings Hause Nakamba Luiz Trez Grealish Hourihane El Ghazi

As I said in pre-match they are obviously on a different level, but let's make them at least work for their goals and I'd be happy... we've done the exact opposite, we have been a disgrace to be fair. Absolutely no belief whatsoever in our play from minute 1 - and it's just getting rapidly worse. All we can hope for now is them to feel sorry for us and just play a bit of keep ball instead, pretend in their heads 20 passes = a goal (or something!) Nakamba for Drinkwater Guilbert for Taylor In fact I don't even know, we're just so bad!

Great debut from Drinkwater.... NOT! This could be 10!

Our team looks and IS severely inferior to that of City's, I doubt that the inclusion of Elmo over Guilbert changes that much. I don't expect 3 points, I don't expect 1 even, but I will be nevertheless happy if we play to our capabilities, give 110% and not be masters of our own downfall, if (or when) they score make them f**king work for it, that's all I ask! UTV

Lots of talk about Benteke, apologies if I have missed them, but has there been any real concrete links that this could seriously happen ? I for one hope it does, I wouldn't usually clamour for signing ex players and I realise Christian's form has plummeted since he left us - but I personally think he could and would work well with our current line up. It may be my heart more than my head, who knows, maybe it's just the desperation of our need for a new striker, probably two strikers but I would love it if he came here on a 6 months on loan (along with a higher calibre striker of course).

I think the one certainty is that we will be keeping the same formation for this one and rightly so, perhaps for the remainder of the season too. Having said that our back 3 might not have a clue whom to mark if Pep chooses to play with no striker Not sure what the injury update is on the likes of Targett, Kodjia and Davis along with the match fitness of Drinkwater but I trust Smith will pick the team that he feels will give us the best possible chance of a result. Hopefully give a good account of ourselves and pick up no more injuries - anything else is a bonus.

Good post and yes I agree totally - Leicester are arguably the 3rd best team in the league right now and it was always going to be a backs-to-the-wall kind of performance against a strong side on their home patch. Nakamba did a lot of the 'dirty' work and I appreciate that side of his game, I also agree that Luiz was more culpable in giving the ball away. To be fair both worked extremely hard without the ball but the problem is you get your 'rests' when you're in possession and we didn't keep it enough to get those rests.

I didn't expect this would be our type of signing with his recent problems off the field and his age (though he's hardly over-the-hill!) however it could turn out to be a masterstroke getting him here. Hopefully he has learnt from his mistakes and comes here with the motivation and desire to get his career back on track - if he does, he will strengthen our first eleven which is what we need to stay in this league.

Not read all the comments but last night I would've rated him around 7.5 without the ball and a 3 with it. He made me nervous at times but I definitely am not writing him off, in fact there's not one player in our squad that I have totally written off which makes a pleasant change from previous seasons. There are obviously players that are out of form, players that are weaker than others ETC but if they are working as hard as they can (a bare minimum) then after some of the dross we have had over the past decade then I am prepared to cut them a bit of slack. Watching Nakamba and Luiz in possession last night however made me appreciate what Jordan Henderson does for Liverpool so much more - I am not a fan of his by any stretch of the imagination, watching him get hold of the ball and play it square or back 99% of the time, but what I would have given last night for someone like him to get a hold of the ball and keep it simple and retain more possession as last night we criminally gave the ball away so many times that we were always eventually going to concede.

El Ghazi started as the main central striker with Trez and Grealish either side - Though the goal came from a cross from his more natural position wide. He did ok though, worked hard, received a yellow for a late tackle when he was tracking back, got a bloody nose not sure what from and eventually went off (not sure if it was enforced or not). Vassilev came on for him last 15, not the easiest game for him to come on to but he showed the minimum you would expect in terms of work rate and the experience will have done him good for the future.

Who?

Voted Nyland MOTM, closely followed by Mings both deserved a clean sheet. Thought Guilbert had a great game too and did well for the goal, had the better of Chilwell which is no mean feat. Sloppy goal to concede and this may sound silly but I am glad we are going into the tie at Villa Park on level terms as opposed to being in front?! I think we will still be underdogs (rightly so) but I think that suits us and takes the pressure off us but still gives us confidence that we can match them (a little). We will need a bit of luck at VP and some striking reinforcements but can't ask for much more from the lads tonight for work rate, discipline and effort. If only Nakamba and Luiz were as comfortable on the ball as Conor and Henri or the latter two had the work rate & speed across the ground as the former two then we would have the perfect midfielders - hopefully Drinkwater makes us stronger in this area. Gave Smith a good rating, we weren't going to go toe-to-toe with them but he set us up perfectly. Our possession was poor but for 15 minutes after our goal. Bring on the second leg!

I know it could be said to all games but I feel tonight the first 20 minutes really are key to how this one goes. It's vital that we settle early, don't concede, be brave on the ball, disciplined without it and also show some aggression in our tackles. If we do that then hopefully it will instill a bit of confidence in the players and we can produce a good account of ourselves. By no means will it be easy and if offered right now I would bite your hands off for a 2-1 defeat but lets not write it off before a ball is kicked - It's 11 vs 11 at the end of the day, let's not just turn up to have our bellies tickled! UTV

If Targett isn't fit I personally would go with a back 3 (or back 5) of; Nyland Konsa Chester Mings Guilbert Hause Even if he is fit, I'd still be tempted by this. Think Chester was probably our best player on Saturday and looks to be returning to match fitness. Given the above and the fact we're away from home against a good side, that bit of extra experience (with the pace of Mings & Konsa each side to hopefully take care of Vardy) might give us a more solid look about us?!

Before today's game I said (3-4-3); Nyland, Konsa, Mings, Hause, Guilbert, Luiz, Nakamba, Targett, Trezeguet, Davis (if fit), Grealish. Nakamba was so poor today that I want to leave him out, but then again so was Henri and Conor so who knows... All I know is we're gonna have to show a lot more fight and passion (& ability) than today to have any chance.