Prediction: Aston Villa vs Blackpool

10th November 2010

Having been denied the victory in the final moments of the Fulham game, Aston Villa are desperate to end their five-match winless league run and start climbing the Premiership table, but the Villans will have to be wary of Ian Holloway’s Blackpool, with the Tangerines missing the chance to beat Everton last weekend despite twice taking the lead.

The first days of Gerard Houllier’s reign have hardly been very promising even though the Frenchman recorded a couple of very good results immediately upon taking over from Kevin MacDonald, although this team have got too much quality to remain in the bottom part of the table. Numerous injuries to the playing squad have also taken the wind out of Villa’s sails, but the team have started to show signs of improvement. Villans have only lost one out of their last five games in all competitions, while they were very close to taking all three points from Craven Cottage, but were denied the victory after conceding in the final moments of the match. Villa continue to exhibit problems in the scoring department without Agbonlahor, Carew and Heskey, but with Stewart Downing, Ashley Young and Marc Albrighton creating chances, even young Nathan Delfouneso should be able to get on the scoresheet against Blackpool. Villa remain a real force to be reckoned with at their Villa Park, where not even teams like Bolton, Everton and Chelsea could outplay them, so everything suggests their good home run is set to continue.

Blackpool are one of those teams that everyone expects to start slipping down the Premiership standings, but the Tangerines are so far defying all odds. Just when Ian Holloway’s side seemingly start to struggle, they go on and beat Newcastle or Liverpool away and all predictions fall apart. In all fairness, the Tangerines were lucky to end the two-match losing run with the home triumph over West Brom, but they, nonetheless, played pretty well against Everton last weekend, so Villa cannot afford to underestimate them. Be that as it may, the busy schedule could start to take its toll on the team as Ian Holloway simply doesn’t have such a big squad to choose from, thus the away game against hungry Aston Villa may be too much for them at the moment. The visitors are hoping to have Brett Ormerod back following his recovery from a groin strain, but Almond, Baptiste, Clarke, Martin and Rachubka remain sidelined.

Conclusion

Aston Villa are slowly raising their game, as witnessed by the very good performance against Fulham and they will definitely have something to build on after that match. Blackpool gave everything against Everton and they seem to be coping rather well with the busy schedule, but with much stronger teams returning from Villa Park empty-handed, the Tangerines don’t look capable of pulling yet another surprise on the road.

Verdict: Home win Aston Villa (1)

Best Odds: 2/3

Bookmaker: Victor Chandler