Aston Villa v West Bromwich Albion: Can the Baggies net another Villa Park victory?
Aston Villa and West Brom had mixed fortunes in the Capital One Cup this week. While Paul Lambert's men were cutting the champions Manchester City down to size in their own back yard, West Brom went crashing out at home to the cup holders Liverpool. But who will be celebrating at Villa Park at the full-time whistle?
The Baggies ripped up the history books last season when they defeated Alex McLeish's men. It was the first time in 32 years that the Albion had triumphed at Villa Park. However, it was a controversial win. Darren Bent opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Villa's Chris Herd was red carded for an off-the-ball incident. The Baggies equalised just before half-time through Jonas Olsson and took the lead 12 minutes into the second half thanks to Paul Scharner.
However the game was marred by Alan Hutton's reckless challenge on West Brom's Shane Long. Albion were furious with the Scot's tough tackling that day, but they were probably more angry with the referee Phil Dowd who refused to send him off.
Could Alan Hutton be the worst Villa signing ever?
Villa have been dominate in this fixture down the years but the Baggies hope they have turned the corner. They have got that monkey off their back and Steve Clarke has got them well drilled defensively and offensively. Villa meanwhile are blowing hot and cold from game to game. Paul Lambert looked to have turned things around in his favour when they beat Swansea, only to lose 4-1 at Southampton, and then knock the champions out of the Capital One Cup. What Villa side will we see today?
This is a hard one to predict and the panel is split.
Aston Villa v West
Bromwich Albion; Kick Off 4pm September 30 2012
Prediction Panel
|
Arsenal |
Josh Ben Moshe |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Aston Villa |
Frank Pattison |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Chelsea |
Joe Tyler |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Everton |
Chris Goodwin |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Fulham |
Neil Springate |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Liverpool |
Dave Disciascio |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Man City |
Callum Rothwell |
0 |
V |
0 |
|
Man United |
Alex Richert |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Newcastle |
Greg Hall |
2 |
V |
0 |
|
Norwich |
Sue Read |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
QPR |
John Jaycock |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Reading |
Jon Keen |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Southampton |
Andy Saunders |
0 |
V |
0 |
|
Stoke City |
Jack Heaney |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Sunderland |
Tony Ratton |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
Swansea |
Jim Barry |
2 |
V |
3 |
|
Spurs |
Mike Richards |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
West Brom |
Andy Wakeman |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
West Ham |
Matt Beeby |
0 |
V |
3 |
|
Wigan |
Jimmy Shine |
2 |
V |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OUR EXPERTS |
|
|
|
|
|
Writer |
Colin Illingworth |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Writer |
Steve Coulter |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Hugh Larkin |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Mitch Waddon |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Chris Pettitt |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Sarshar Hosseinnia |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
Blackburn fan |
Terry Kennedy |
2 |
V |
2 |
|
Bolton fan |
David Blackburn |
0 |
V |
0 |
|
Boro fan |
Sue Gardener |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Pompey fan |
Dan Taylor |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
Pompey fan |
Peter Rendle |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
West Ham fan |
Nigel Telfer |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Wolves fan |
Chris Cox |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Editor |
Antony Melvin |
1 |
V |
1 |
Panel Verdict
The panel is going for a draw.
Home: 7; Draw: 14; Away: 13.
* Do we have it right or do you know better? We’d love to hear from you.
For more Villa news, click here
For more West Brom news, click here
