As the end of the season draws ever nearer, Aston Villa sit just above the relegation zone and whilst not one of the favourites to go down, they know they need to still pick up points just to make sure that come the final day of the season, we are not one of the teams fighting to stay up.
This weekend we welcome Everton to Villa Park, with Roberto Martinez’s team having picked up form recently after a largely disappointing campaign on the back of last year’s 5th place. Last time out they picked apart a inform Manchester United on the counter attack and then finished with aplomb running out 3-0 victors in the end. The key to Everton’s revival has been the form of been the return of key players and the confidence returning that has not been since last season. In terms of team news, Everton have no new fresh injuries to contend with, but left midfielder Byran Oveido will be missing till the end of the season with a broken leg.
Last weekend, Villa were denied a very possible victory after Christian Benteke had been bought down by Joe Hart, only for the linesman to incorrectly rule Benteke to be offside. That would prove costly to a Villa team who would go onto lose as Fernandinho would score to give Manchester City victory in the dying embers of the game. It was a harsh result on a Villa team, who had fought back from 2-0 down after poor goalkeeping and defending with goals from the unlikely sources of Tom Cleverley and Carlos Sanchez. But Villa know more than ever they still need to pick up points if they are to survive, thanks to the revival of teams in and around the relegation zone such as Hull, West Brom and Leicester.
Last time out, Villa started with the same team that outplayed Liverpool in the FA Cup semi final but with Guzan coming in for Given, Okore coming in for the injured Baker and Sanchez coming in to replace N’Zogbia. This weekend, Villa are still without Gabriel Agbonlahor through injury, although it is hoped he will be back for the end of season run in as he returned to light training this week whilst Nathan Baker and are out. Aly Cissokho looks nearer to a return and could be ready to come in, in place of Kieran Richardson who has performed poorly in his recent outings. Alan Hutton has returned to training and Scott Sinclair is available after being inlegible last week against parent club Manchester City. One selection dilamea that could cause Tim Sherwood problems is the choice between his two goalkeepers Brad Guzan and Shay Given. Guzan has been first choice since Newcastle away in the third game of Paul Lambert’ tenure, but recent poor performances which culminated in his horrible miscue as he sliced a clearance to Sergio Aguero, who did not waste the opportunity to put Manchester City 1-0 up have not gone unnoticed by media and fans alike. Given on the other hand has been the cup goalkeeper since and particularly this season has not put a foot wrong. It will be interesting to see if Sherwood shows his faith in Guzan or he reverts to a keeper who has served him very well in the two cup games he has played since being manager of the football club.
Whatever choices he decides to make this weekend, one thing is abundantly clear. We still need to add some more points to our Premier League tally to guarantee our Premier League safety for another year. Will this be the weekend that Villa put a comfortable gap between themselves and the relegation zone or will Everton nudge us towards the drop?
