Just realised that only ManU have got more away wins and goals than us ! Either we are very good in away matches or all the other teams are shyte ! I think we can claim to have a good away record since all the 4 away defeats so far have been to tough teams : Saudi Sportswashing Machine, ManCity, Arsenal and Everton. So, there is no reason why we cannot beat Villa away. Besides, we have had good record against Villa in recent years, being unbeaten in our last 8 matches against them. But after getting hammered 8-0 by Chelsea, can see Villa playing very defensively and making it harder for us.
I think we need some inspiration from somewhere to lift us in this match. We need big performance from players like Dembele, Bale and Defoe. Our performance will largely based on how Bale play in this match. Bale was unispiring against Stoke. Just hope he rediscover his form in this match. Since he concentrates more on scoring goals nowadays, just hope he gets one or two in this match. Want to see Dembele and Lennon contributes more to our attack, either an assist or goal.
Defoe has been out-of-sorts since the return of Adebayor. Hope AVB only starts with Defoe in this match. We need Defoe get back his goal scoring mood. I think Defoe plays better as a long striker with Dempsey. Adebayor can come in late in the match. Dempsey was in good form before he got injured. Dempsey did score our only goal against Everton. Hope he will have another good match and score a goal or two. After scoring only 2 goals in our last 3 matches, we badly need to score in this match.
Our defence have done well to keep clean sheets in the last 2 matches. We will need the same performance here. Just hope we don't get complacent especially late in the match like against Everton. It remains to be seen who will play in our centre defence. Will prefer the experience of Gallas and Dawson rather than the inexperienced Caulker. Afterall, it was Caulker's mistake which caused us to lose to Everton. Just hope we don't make the same mistakes like that.
After the disappointing draw against Stoke, we have to win this match to boost our confidence. With our excellent record against Villa, there is no reason why we can't do that. We can't afford to slip up in this match as all our rivals for top 4 race will take advantage of that. Performance is not that important in this match. Just hope we will do enough to win this match.
