English Premier League Preview: Aston Villa vs. Birmingham City
The Birmingham derby on Sunday, in the English Premier League sees 12th
placed Aston Villa host Birmingham City, who are currently in 13th place.
Both teams have made a mediocre start to the season, and have not been able to gain points consistently from their games. From 9 matches Villa have scored 11 points; one better than their city rivals.
Gerard Houllier boasts an impressive derby record in England. At the time of his resignation as Liverpool FC manager, Houllier was unbeaten in his last nine matches against Everton FC.
Reflecting from his previous experiences of local derbies, the Villa manager said, “In these games the will to win is as important as the skill to win, I think.”
The Lions have been hindered by a lack of goals, having managed just 9 in the league so far this season. The Villans will be looking to end their goal drought in which they have gone 254 minutes without scoring a league goal.
Birmingham City are yet to win away from home this season and will be desperate to end a record run of six successive defeats in the second City derby.
The most recent clash was in April 2010, and the match was not without controversy. Villa won the match with a late, disputed penalty to complete a league double over the Blues. The steaming rivalry will intensify over the coming
weeks, with the two clubs paired against each other in the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup.
Striker, John Carew has recovered from the illness that forced him to miss the midweek Carling Cup win over Burnley. Defender Luke Young is also back to action after overcoming a hamstring problem. Also, Blues are boosted by the
return to full fitness of former Arsenal playmaker Alexander Hleb.
Villa manager will be hoping for a strong performance from his winger, Stewart Downing as the England international is the club’s top scorer with 3 goals this season.
In their previous 118 meetings, Aston Villa have won 52 while Birmingham have been victorious 37 times.
Aston Villa’s Probable starting line-up:
Bradley Friedel, Stephen Warnock, James Collins, Richard Dunne, Luke Young, Ashley Young, Stewart Downing, Nigel Reo-Coker, Stephen Ireland, Emile Heskey, John Carew.
Birmingham City’s Probable starting line-up: Ben Foster, Liam Ridgewell, Scott Dann, Roger Johnson, Stephen Carr, Sebastian Larsson, Barry Ferguson, Alexander Hleb, Lee Bowyer, Keith Fahey, Nikola Zigic.
Match Prediction: The match will be a cagey one, but Aston Villa will make their home advantage count at Villa Park, and win by 1-0.
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