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Wondered wether it was a bit of cramp rather than anything else ? Thought he was brilliant overall though and has been for a while now

So looks like Hause/Trez are the main absentees through Covid - Wonder if El Ghazi one thats not quite right ? Bench shows that Sanson and another attacking player are needed Great to see Barkley back

Smith said there is a difference between training and paying which gave me the impression that there will be a few of those that were pictured still not ready

Alot of talk building about how heavy the rain is now on MCFC forum and twitter -Described as biblical and not getting much better!

I thoughts this, get a game under our belt before next 2 which are very winable

Limited player with 54 goal contributions in 126 games.....come on have some respect, he's been an outstanding signing vs the money paid and some of the dross we have had in the last 10 years. Played a huge art in our promotion and ultimately in our survival last year he stepped up with some assists at vital times, wish him nothing but the best Im not going to lie and say although probably right thing for all involved im a bit gutted that this is probably the beginning of the end for him at Villa

One little thing to keep an eye on is the storm that's about to hit, Manchester is going to have constant rain for 2 days (2 months worth i think i heard) I know modern pitches are totally different but that's a lot of rain and so could put the game in doubt or have an effect on the pitch for the game Outside of that City 3 Villa 1

No Doucore either

Agree My 12 year old has had a cough for 4 months and pre Christmas was struggling to do any form of sport in the cold weather due to coughing, Dr's convinced he has had covid (his 2 best mates did so fair chance he did) but had no initial major symptoms but long term effects have been worse and that they have started to see this in several cases

Good post Just feels some times we have to find the scape goat and because he comes across as confident, likes to try and play and has had his opinion on a few things then it seems to be Tyronne that's been chosen.....He makes mistakes - So does Jack, Luiz, Watkins etc etc

To add to the disrespect we supposedly showed last time, here's more from their manager on the night Liverpool stand-in manager Neil Critchley talking to Sky Sports: "I thought we were magnificent. We were fantastic from the start, we had a couple of chances from the first whistle. We were really unfortunate to concede and then find ourselves 2-0 down. It was an incredible night and no-one wanted it to end. The support we had was unbelievable. "The conduct of the Villa players was first class. For Dean Smith and John Terry to come in to our dressing room after the game and say the things they said... They said 'keep going, good luck' and wished us the best. A moment I will remember and the players will remember for the rest of their lives. "Some of them showed the potential to one day play for us, or in the Premier League. They will know it was just part of their journey. My overwhelming feeling is one of immense pride."

This Not sure why i can see their fans saying Karma etc and they want to stuff us

If confirmed that we are playing with U23 i would not be suprised to see Liverpool field a weaker team than expected anyway, gives Klopp perfect opportunity to rest his big names

From what I've been told as of now no decision has yet been made on the game

Prety sure option is you play the kids or forfeit - Derby are putting an U23 team out v Crawley

Something like this for me - Heaton; Elmo, Konsa, Hause, Taylor; McGinn, Nakamba; , Ramsey, Traore, Grealish; Davis - If your winning the game well then Grealish/Mcginn come off

Sorry maybe been missed as was in a previous post but my particular passion on all of this is that with the congestion the big 6 face this year there will be a real temptation from them to rest players in the FA cup even more than ever especially as the PL and CL races hot up and so it feels with us being pretty safe already this is the year to have a real go

We play Spurs Wednesday so are we saying that they wont be fresh 5 days later? I agree in making 2-3 changes especially to give Heatton, Davis and Hause starts but i can see Smith doing 8-9

Totally agree, Villa fans saying that the cup can wait or would rather finish 5th/6th - We have won nothing since 96 and haven't won the FA Cup since 1957!!!!!!!!! I just cant get my head round it, give me 12th place and an FA Cup win anyway, you still get Europe but you win something and players on our books get to experience that winning feeling and are probably less likely to go off elsewhere quitehite yet 1996 when we last won a trophy we were 4th in the league, league cup winners and semis of the FA Cup & we played a near full strength team throughout pretty much all of that and our squad was limited - What's changed?

Cant we take advantage of that tight program though? We aren't going down so while others rest in the cup due to league/champions league commitments we progress? Im sure Liverpool will be much changed Friday so lets go and knock them out !

100% agree We have never had a better chance to go for the cup, we aren't going down and despite what people think its very unlikely we will finish in the top 6 so why not go for it and take full advantage of the fact a lot of teams, Liverpool included will rest people with the league/champions league fixture congestions that they have - if we go full strength on Friday vs what they will put out then we will beat them.

Good post/debate I have to say I've had this line of thinking myself and been quite staggered at the amount of chuck the cup type comments ive read on various things over the last few days as we have our CL/EL finish to preserve - It has to me came across as entitlement as for the first time in probably 10 years we have been anywhere near the top 10 of the prem and suddenly Villa are back. We have had a good start but there is a long way to go, and although you can say there is nothing between us and top3 there is also not a fat lot between us and Leeds (3 points) either and although we do have games in hand the away game at City is getting more difficult by the week as they go through the gears and Newcastle at the home should be 3 points but we have seen other home games go the other way. In my opinion any top 10 finish will be success this year and so i cant see why we wouldn't go all out for the cup alongside it - Don't forget Liverpool/United/City/Chelsea/Spurs/Leicester will likely be the 6 battling for top 4 spaces and then behind that you have Arsenal/Everton/Southampton/West Ham/Leeds/Wolves will also have similar thoughts of finishing in the 6-10th spaces. Sorry if im sounding pessimistic but ive seen this before, we will drop off and finish 10th and there will be outrage from fans who only 12 months before were praying we stayed in the division - A funny facebook post said the cup can wait lol we haven't won jack all for 25 years, i would take it in a heartbeat over finishing 5th/6th in the league

Back for Palace then ! What Smith said: "We didn't want to take a risk in the colder weather tonight (vs West Brom). It's one of those injuries. He'll be fit for Crystal Palace."

2-1 Villa, im usually a pessimist but I think with the boost of Barkley back and the run we are on we will have just enough to beat them

And he headed it down to Traore for the cross for the first goal