Premier League preview: Aston Villa v Birmingham City
Few things in life are certain. There’s death, taxes, more and more television programmes featuring Adrian Chiles, and there’s the fact that the two biggest clubs from England’s second city will rarely – if ever – change their starting line-ups.
Consistency is key to Martin O’Neill and Alex McLeish, two men who are used to being adversaries in big, inter-city derby clashes.
Both have impressed in their own ways this season. O’Neill’s Villa are still within touching distance of the Champions League spots, and could haul themselves right back into the race for fourth should they win at the weekend and Tottenham and Manchester City both lose their difficult fixtures. Blues boss Alex McLeish has now led his team firmly into mid-table – troubling neither the top eight nor the bottom half – and, given the yo-yo nature of the club in recent campaigns, if you’d have offered him that back in August he’d have snapped your hand off.
O’Neill and McLeish – old enemies from their Old Firm days – have both impressed this season, and therein lies the problem. Expectation levels will rise in 2010/11, heights that have been reached this time around will be expected to be surpassed next time. That can all be forgotten about for now though, there’s bragging rights to be won.
Villa have won the last five meetings between the two sides, ensuring that Birmingham’s determination to win will be greater than usual come noon on Sunday.
If they are to do that they’ll have to overcome a Villa side who have recently hit form, beating both Portsmouth and Hull in the past week to firmly establish themselves in the top seven – all of whom will earn European football next season.
The strike partnership of Gabriel Agbonlahor and John Carew looks full of goals, and is currently relegating Emile Heskey – still Birmingham’s record signing – to the substitutes’ bench, where he could be starting England’s World Cup campaign if he’s not careful. James Milner should be going the other way. His stellar form, continued with a penalty at Hull in midweek, could earn him a starting place in Fabio Capello’s plans.
Other than the on-loan Joe Hart, there are no England players in the Birmingham side, but the form of their almost ever-present defence could have earned any one of Liam Ridgewell, Roger Johnson or Scott Dann a call-up. Stephen Carr is Irish, but he’s been good too, and it is that defence that McLeish will be relying upon to produce in the big game atmosphere of this Midlands derby.
That derby-day adrenalin might have to be what Birmingham need to motivate them, as they’ve got little else to play for this season, unlike Villa.
That, couple with their extra quality, should give the home side the spoils.
Prediction: Aston Villa 3 Birmingham City 1
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