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Pre match thread


roonst83

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4 hours ago, TRO said:

thats the key question.....with that, I have no doubt of us staying up.

However, we have to remember, Nyland was superman on the night, that is hard to expect again.

Also there is no pressure in the cup. No points are at stake.

It's a very relevant point.

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I’m convinced this game is a good opportunity to pick up a win against one of the upper echelon clubs. Some not insignificant differences from the reverse fixture; 1) No Sissoko. A strong, physical influence in the 1st game. 2) No Kane. Scored 2 in 1st game. 3) No Pochettino. I think we’ll get a little more time on the ball against Mourinhos Spurs than we would against a Pochettino Spurs. I don’t think they’ll press us as high up. 
Added to the above, I believe there are injury question marks against LoCelso & Lamela. Obviously they still have very capable players even with the injuries, but I’d rather play a Spurs team minus Kane & Sissoko than one with them. And we have to be 100% in all areas, no doubt.

But this is a chance, we must take the opportunity.

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48 minutes ago, OxfordVillan said:

I’m convinced this game is a good opportunity to pick up a win against one of the upper echelon clubs. Some not insignificant differences from the reverse fixture; 1) No Sissoko. A strong, physical influence in the 1st game. 2) No Kane. Scored 2 in 1st game. 3) No Pochettino. I think we’ll get a little more time on the ball against Mourinhos Spurs than we would against a Pochettino Spurs. I don’t think they’ll press us as high up. 
Added to the above, I believe there are injury question marks against LoCelso & Lamela. Obviously they still have very capable players even with the injuries, but I’d rather play a Spurs team minus Kane & Sissoko than one with them. And we have to be 100% in all areas, no doubt.

But this is a chance, we must take the opportunity.

Add to that N'Dombele their signing from the summer is overweight apparently and not fit to start - he did well against us in the reverse fixture.

 

You look at Spurs this season and we should be feeling fired up to get something - their two wins away from home were at Wolves where they were lucky, and at West Ham. They've deservedly lost to Southampton and Brighton without scoring a goal and with Kane playing in both of those games. Drew at Watford and probably should have lost (Deeney missed a pen) and drew at Norwich. Their new signing Bergwijn looks good and has seemingly settled quickly and Son is fast, direct and can finish with both feet. But they have no out and out striker and without Kane they will undoubtedly be weaker. Personally I think Moura and Alli are pretty ineffective throughout a game but can have moments of brilliance. I don't think this will be like City or Leicester and we will get chances but they will be a major threat if we play a sloppy pass and they break on us, so I hope our players actually move for each other and concentrate.

 

All of their attacking players will be licking their lips over facing our dreadful defence so that is where we should make a change. Bring Engels in for Hause and push Mings to the left-hand side of a back three. I haven't understood the run of games Hause has been getting because I think he's the weak link in our defence and he's poor on the ball. Not sure Davis is fit as he would have been in contention for a start given his impact at Bournemouth, so I'd probably go something like this:

 

..........................Reina............................

..........Konsa......Engels......Mings..........

Guilbert.......................................Targett

................Luiz........Nakamba.................

Trez/AEG...................................Grealish

.........................Samatta..........................

 

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22 minutes ago, VillaFaninLondon said:

Add to that N'Dombele their signing from the summer is overweight apparently and not fit to start - he did well against us in the reverse fixture.

 

You look at Spurs this season and we should be feeling fired up to get something - their two wins away from home were at Wolves where they were lucky, and at West Ham. They've deservedly lost to Southampton and Brighton without scoring a goal and with Kane playing in both of those games. Drew at Watford and probably should have lost (Deeney missed a pen) and drew at Norwich. Their new signing Bergwijn looks good and has seemingly settled quickly and Son is fast, direct and can finish with both feet. But they have no out and out striker and without Kane they will undoubtedly be weaker. Personally I think Moura and Alli are pretty ineffective throughout a game but can have moments of brilliance. I don't think this will be like City or Leicester and we will get chances but they will be a major threat if we play a sloppy pass and they break on us, so I hope our players actually move for each other and concentrate.

 

All of their attacking players will be licking their lips over facing our dreadful defence so that is where we should make a change. Bring Engels in for Hause and push Mings to the left-hand side of a back three. I haven't understood the run of games Hause has been getting because I think he's the weak link in our defence and he's poor on the ball. Not sure Davis is fit as he would have been in contention for a start given his impact at Bournemouth, so I'd probably go something like this:

 

..........................Reina............................

..........Konsa......Engels......Mings..........

Guilbert.......................................Targett

................Luiz........Nakamba.................

Trez/AEG...................................Grealish

.........................Samatta..........................

 

I think I’d prefer something more like a 3-5-1-1, with Grealish playing behind Samatta and an extra body in midfield. I think you have to be strong in the middle against a Mourinho side. 
...........................Reina.........................

.........Konsa.......Mings......Hause........

Elmo.........................................Targett

....Nakamba.....Luiz.......Drinkwater...

..........................Grealish.......................

......................Samatta..........................

Try & get a stranglehold on the middle and that should allow Elmo & Targett the freedom to get in some of their good deliveries. The extra body in midfield would hopefully buy a bit more time for Luiz to be more forward minded and do his work in the Spurs half, Grealish too. 

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11 minutes ago, OxfordVillan said:

I think I’d prefer something more like a 3-5-1-1, with Grealish playing behind Samatta and an extra body in midfield. I think you have to be strong in the middle against a Mourinho side. 
...........................Reina.........................

.........Konsa.......Mings......Hause........

Elmo.........................................Targett

....Nakamba.....Luiz.......Drinkwater...

..........................Grealish.......................

......................Samatta..........................

Try & get a stranglehold on the middle and that should allow Elmo & Targett the freedom to get in some of their good deliveries. The extra body in midfield would hopefully buy a bit more time for Luiz to be more forward minded and do his work in the Spurs half, Grealish too. 

Might work, not a fan of Drinkwater at all but Grealish floating more centrally will give him more influence. Guilbert and Targett need to be on it offensively and defensively if we play without wingers. Don't think Spurs will dominate the ball like they would have done under Poch, they are much more defensive and counter attacking. Think they'll look to create chances when we inevitably turn over possession to them by playing a sloppy pass, so it's important we stay compact.

 

Would play Engels either way, either at the expense of Hause or Konsa. Think he's our best defender along with Mings and whatever has gone on behind the scenes that has led to him being dropped needs to be forgotten about. 

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It's good for us that there is no pressure to win this game, in terms of where we will be expected to pick up points at least. The crowd should reflect this too, vociferous but not expecting.

 I really hope we can use that because 3 points here would be simply massive!

Its doable too, not easy, but doable!

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3 hours ago, OxfordVillan said:

I’m convinced this game is a good opportunity to pick up a win against one of the upper echelon clubs. Some not insignificant differences from the reverse fixture; 1) No Sissoko. A strong, physical influence in the 1st game. 2) No Kane. Scored 2 in 1st game. 3) No Pochettino. I think we’ll get a little more time on the ball against Mourinhos Spurs than we would against a Pochettino Spurs. I don’t think they’ll press us as high up. 
Added to the above, I believe there are injury question marks against LoCelso & Lamela. Obviously they still have very capable players even with the injuries, but I’d rather play a Spurs team minus Kane & Sissoko than one with them. And we have to be 100% in all areas, no doubt.

But this is a chance, we must take the opportunity.

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

 

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On 05/02/2020 at 16:42, kidlewis said:

They also don’t have Erikson who was one of their best players. Son has been great and goals and assists per minutes one of the best this season from midfield. 
 

it will take a moment of magic to win this. Someone needs to have a 10/10 performance for us to win this. 

It was eriksen that turned the game for them on the opening weekend, until he came on we were relatively comfortable 

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We face another crucial game on Sunday afternoon and with just 13 league games remaining, this will be one of 14 cup finals that we will face, in what is left of this season. A win would take us 4 points clear of the relegation places and it would move us above both Bournemouth and Brighton. A draw would take us 2 points clear of West Ham and Watford.

We last beat Spurs at Villa Park in 2008 and we last took a point from them in 2012, since then they have won on each of their last 4 league visits.  Overall, we have won 50 and have drawn 34 of the 147 league meetings, that there have been between the two clubs.  

At least our visitors won't have Harry Kane, to score his customary goal or goals against us, this time. Spurs under Jose will be hard to beat, but they might just be a little less likely to go for the jugular, than they might have been in similar circumstances under Poch. They might look to hit us on the break and allow us more possession, than some teams have done. They also need a win, but like us they might settle for a point. They have after all, drawn 4 of their last 5 away games and this includes league games at Norwich & Watford. We will need to reproduce the performance, that we gave to knock Leicester out of the cup on Sunday. We are capable of doing that and a win would take us so much nearer to safety. It would also leave us with increased confidence, that when Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal visit, we can so the same to them. Just win it or draw it for us Villa! :flag:   

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