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Something For The Weekend

December 18, 2011 by · Comments Off on Something For The Weekend 

Something For The Weekend, Reverse expected after success with palindrome.

The game was not exactly a demonstration in the art of finishing but no one could argue that Villa’s rare away win at Notlob, last Saturday, was not as welcome as an attack of butter-fingers from goalkeeper Szczesny, must have been to a Blues fan, or this week’s fall of snow in Zermatt.

A fine assist from Gabby for a Marc Albrighton slot-in and a deflected shot from captain Petrov was enough for Villa to avoid the shame of losing to the bottom club in the Premiership.

It got me through the week, anyway – that and Barcelona’s fantastic win over Real, which included the total eclipse of Villa’s old tormentor, Ronaldo.

Villa’s win was more of a consolation than anything impressive but it would have been a poor reflection on Villa’s present squad, if they had failed to at least match an off-colour Bolton side. The surprises ended with the team-sheet, which seemed to promise a more positive attitude from Villa’s under-pressure manager but inevitably he reverted to type once Villa got their noses in front.

So Villa are where the bookmakers tell us they should be in the table, but when the points are added up and subtracted, they are rather nearer the relegation trap-door (Wigan – 7 points) than the top-four (Spurs +12).

We can safely conclude, that Villa’s chances of relegation are rather greater than their chances of qualifying for the Champions League, but we knew that already.

Meanwhile, Villa host Liverpool on Sunday (five points behind Spurs) and we all get the chance to decide whether we can tell the difference between a club which has spent £100m (Liverpool) and one which sold players worth £38m, since January. By coincidence the two clubs find themselves in exactly the same positions as they finished last season – Liverpool 6th, Villa 9th.

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