Premier League preview: Stoke City v Aston Villa
With Aston Villa in the midst of a transitional period, Stoke City will do their utmost to ensure Kevin MacDonald ends his brief tenure in charge of the Villains with a whimper rather than a bang.
MacDonald is poised to step aside for incoming manager Gérard Houllier within the next two weeks after it was confirmed that the former Liverpool manager will occupy the hotseat at Villa Park. The Frenchman is still in the process of agreeing a departure date with the French Football Federation and isn’t expected to take over first-team duties at Villa until the end of the month.
This news will most certainly have encouraged Stoke boss Tony Pulis. History has shown that clubs tend to be dangerous when a new manager arrives, but with Houllier still watching on from afar, Pulis will regard this evening’s match as the ideal opportunity to get some much-needed points on the board.
Tonight’s game will be the Potters’ fourth of the season, and so far they find themselves deep-rooted in 19th place without a single point to their name.
Second-season syndrome is a term now commonplace in English football, but Stoke could popularise the term ‘third-season syndrome’ if their poor start to the season is a taste of things to come.
However, Pulis managed to strengthen his squad before the transfer window closed by bringing in Marc Wilson, Jermaine Pennant and former Barcelona attacker Eidur Gudjohnsen. All three are in line to make their debuts against Villa – furthering bolstering a good squad of players who’ve proven themselves in the top-flight over the past two years.
The Britannia Stadium is a venue that no team relishes travelling to – including the big guns – and Aston Villa are no different.
It’s been a mixed start to the new campaign for the Villains after the departure of Martin O’Neill. The club currently sit comfortably in seventh place following home wins over West Ham and Everton - although it must be mentioned that the victory over the Toffees was rather fortuitous.
But the club’s owner Randy Lerner understandably decided against offering MacDonald the job on a permanent basis after the team crashed out of Europe in the Europa League qualifiers and were thrashed 6-0 by Newcastle United in their first away league match of the season.
The recent lack of stability has clearly affected Villa on the pitch, but with instability brings unpredictability, and Pulis won’t take his opponent’s dismal display at St James’ Park as a marker of what to expect this evening.
Villa looked to be suffering against the Magpies following the loss of talismanic midfielder James Milner, and they must utilise the services of Stephen Ireland. The former Manchester City man hasn’t quite settled into life at Villa Park just yet, although his talent is undeniable and it shouldn’t be too long before he finds his feet with the West Midlands outfit.
Providing he passes a fitness test, Ireland has the ability to hurt Stoke, as do the likes of Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and John Carew, all of whom MacDonald will be looking to lift the club to third in the table this evening.
A win for Stoke still wouldn’t be enough to lift them out of the relegation zone, but it would move them to within a point of a host of clubs stuck on four points. And because of their recent good record against the Villains, they will be confident of getting a result despite their poor start to the season.
Stoke have won and drawn their last two home encounters against Villa since winning promotion back to the top-flight in 2008.
All four of their recent meetings have been tight, cagey encounters. And with the pressure on both managers to deliver a favourable result, expect another tense battle at the Britannia Stadium this evening.
Prediction: Stoke City 1 Aston Villa 1
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