English Premier League – Match Preview: Aston Villa versus Bolton Wanderers
Aston Villa is looking to get their season back on track as they host Bolton at the Villa Park on Saturday. Both these teams will be gearing to get all three points in their 5th league match of this years’ English Premier League. Villa have been in deep trouble off late as they parted ways with their manager Martin O’Neill in the summer. Since then, the club has been on the decline. However, Randy Lerner took the bold step of naming the club’s first permanent manager in over a month. Lerner told the press that Gerard Houllier will be in charge of the club as Aston Villa’s permanent first team manager.
But the Frenchmen and former Liverpool manager is yet to take up his post as the manager and therefore Villa are set to play Bolton with their caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald at the helm of affairs. It has been a torrid season so far for Villa. After finishing sixth in the English Premier League for the last three consecutive seasons under Martin O’Neill, Aston Villa have been profligate as far as their form is concerned in 2010.
It certainly doesn’t look on evidence that they will manage to finish sixth again in this season’s English Premier League season but it is still an early part of the English Premier League and therefore Aston Villa do have a lot of time to salvage their season. Villa only made a single signing in the summer transfer window and that signature also came through after they sold their best player James Milner to Manchester City. As a part of the deal, Stephen Ireland moved the other way and joined Aston Villa from Manchester City. However, the jury is still out on the midfielder who is yet to impress the Villa faithful.
In their last English Premier League match that took place last Monday, Villa faced Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium. Despite producing an enthralling performance as far as their offensive display was concerned, Aston Villa lost focus in the last ten minutes of the match and allowed Stoke to pull back a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win. Villa’s players looked distraught at the end and Kevin MacDonald will have a tough job on his hands to get their hopes up again as Bolton visit them.
It has been Aston Villa’s away form that has been their undoing so far in the English Premier League. They have lost away to Newcastle and Stoke but in their home ties against West Ham and Everton, Villa have been convincing winners. Last season in the corresponding fixture, Villa thrashed Bolton 5-1.
Villa have performed well against Bolton at Villa Park, as in their last three home games, Villa have succeeded in getting 3 points on all opportunities and have scored 13 goals against the Wanderers. Conversely, Bolton have been mediocre this season as far as their performances are concerned.
In their last English Premier League game, Arsenal battered Owen Coyle’s side by 4-1. Currently, 12th in the Premier League table with five points from four games, Bolton will approach the match against Aston Villa without Jussi Jaaskelainen and Gary Cahill as both the players are dealing with suspensions.
Alternatively for Aston Villa, their striker John Carew and the new boy, Stephen Ireland are scheduled to go through last minute fitness tests to determine their eligibility. Fabian Delph is a confirmed absentee due to his knee injury. Bolton have just won twice at Villa Park in their last 11 visits to the stadium and therefore it is expected that Aston Villa will win this encounter but it wouldn’t be surprising if they make it hard for themselves.
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