Key occasions
Seems like a reasonably dismal day in Birmingham. Let’s hope we get some sunshine soccer, or one thing.
The groups!
The group sheets have been handed in, and right here is the information. Ollie Watkins begins once more, with Duran on the bench for Villa, with Leon Bailey and Lucas Digne the brand new faces from the group that drew with Arsenal. West Ham usher in Alphonse Areola in purpose, and Vladimir Coufal and Carlos Soler out of purpose.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Money, Konsa, Mings, Digne, Tielemans, Kamara, Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey, Watkins. Subs: Olsen, Zych, McGinn, Duran, Buendia, Garcia, Malen, Maatsen, Bogarde.
West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Kilman, Cresswell, Wan-Bissaka, Alvarez, Soler, Emerson Palmieri, Lucas Paqueta, Soucek, Kudus. Subs: Fabianski, Foderingham, Luis Guilherme, Ings, Rodriguez, Irving, Casey, Scarles, Orford.
Referee: Peter Bankes.
Good day world!
“After all, West Ham, they aren’t being constant, however they’ve now a brand new coach. Tactically, they will enhance,” stated Unai Emery on Friday. We’re about to learn how a lot enchancment they’ve managed, however Villa have some bettering to do: positive, they’re eighth within the desk which is okay “(“Crucial for us is the Premier League, and to be within the desk’s prime eight positions,” Emery added), and have misplaced solely certainly one of their final 5 league video games, however away from house they’re not so scorching: two wins and 5 defeats of their final eight within the league, which might put them sixteenth in a notional last-eight-away-from-home desk (in mitigation, these fixtures included visits to Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Liverpool). Emery stated their ambition was to “attempt to be constant like we’re in the meanwhile at house”, the place they might be sixth and unbeaten in a last-eight-games desk.
Graham Potter additionally thinks West Ham are going to enhance. “Our ambition is there – we wish to get higher. We wish to transfer in the direction of a method of play that our supporters recognise and are keen on,” he stated at his press convention on Friday. “It has been good to have a good stretch of coaching. We’ve got managed to do some good work, analyse the final sport and put together for Aston Villa, so I believe we’ve used the time properly. In each coaching session and after each message, I believe the intention has been there.”
This can be a great check of their enchancment since Potter’s arrival, and what he’s managed to attain with that first rate stretch of coaching: these groups performed right here within the FA Cup a few weeks in the past, a day after he was unveiled as Julen Lopategui’s substitute, and Villa received 2-1.
Since then West Ham have overwhelmed Fulham 3-2 (in a sport the place that they had 4 pictures total and solely three on track) and misplaced 2-0 to Crystal Palace (in a sport the place that they had 4 pictures total and none in any respect on track). For context, final season the common Premier League sport featured 27.2 pictures in complete. Since Christmas West Ham have had a complete of 11 pictures on track throughout six video games, whereas conceding 15 objectives on the different finish. It’s apparent the place that enchancment must be demonstrated. So, let’s see how they’ve obtained on, we could?
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