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A view from the Villa – A look ahead to tonight’s game

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Andy from Aston Villa Blog Villatillidie.co.uk gives us his thoughts in the build-up to tonight’s match…
I can’t believe Villa are favourites for this match. Have the bookmakers been watching us recently? Even relegation fodder like Burton are made to look good. Steve Bruce has made us hard to beat but winning tonight will take a Herculean effort.
Before you think that’s defeatist, I’m a Villa fan and my blood type is ‘Pessimism Positive’. I think we can win but expect worse. After the years of struggling in the Premier League, part of me was relieved at relegation; it was the catalyst for change.
Not that change is always good. Our owner is mad in an endearing way – most of the time – but yours is certifiably mental. Leeds look like a club in dire need of a lobotomy at the top and that’s what we’ve got to avoid.
That Gary Monk has taken United into the play-offs is commendable but pales by comparison to Steve Bruce dragging us from the fringes of the relegation zone to the fringes of the play-offs. Mind you, any pales next to Steve Bruce. Despite his weight loss, he’s still an imposing figure on the touchline.
Losing at Elland Road was disappointing. Prior to that, Bruce had guided us through seven matches unbeaten including a win at Reading and a point at Brighton. Both were good performances and it seemed we were up for the big matches.
I don’t think we did ourselves justice earlier this month and yes, that’s a sprint into saying tonight is about ‘revenge’ for that. While we struggled against Burton, inexplicably letting them back into the game having taken the lead, we were excellent at QPR. The two matches underline our Jekyll and Hyde nature.
Crucially, Ross McCormack got back to scoring ways at the weekend and following that with another one or more tonight will (hopefully) give him the confidence to go on a run of consistently finding the net. At the moment, we’re too reliant on Jonathan Kodjia and his inclusion in the Ivory Coast squad for the Africa Cup of Nations will leave a big hole at Villa Park this winter.
Defensively, Bruce has tightened us up. Leeds are the only team to score twice in what was a tight game. Although I thought we were poor, we still looked good for a point until the first goal went in. From then on, defeat was inevitable. It’s some sort of kudos that Leeds are the only team to score twice against us since he took over.
I hope we come flying out of the blocks this evening. That’s when Villa are at their best. If we go into a slow build-up, if we get bogged down in a defensive game, we struggle and there’s no doubt Leeds will try and get us into that rut. It’s a must-not-lose game for them, I think.
For us, it’s a must-win match. We need to take the points to close the gap but to damage Leeds own promotion chances is a bonus. Sheffield Wednesday’s win at Newcastle put the cat among the pigeons and underlined how tough the play-offs could be but we’re not even in the top six yet which is our first target.
I’ve got a good feeling about tonight: I don’t think we’ll lose. Win? I didn’t say it was that good a feeling. The outcome I predict, is a low or no-scoring draw.

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