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      MATCH PREVIEW

ASTON VILLA v WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Barclays Premier League
Sunday 30th September 2012, 4pm
Villa Park

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Right-back Steven Reid misses out for the fourth successive game due to a hamstring injury but James Morrison has returned to training after missing the midweek clash with Liverpool and is expected to be fit.

Peter Odemwingie will not feature as he completes his three match suspension following his sending-off at Fulham a fortnight ago.

Former Villa defender Liam Ridgewell should be fit despite being forced off against Liverpool with a calf injury and Goran Popov could finally make his Albion debut after returning to training following a groin problem.

Keeper Boaz Myhill will be sidelined for at least a fortnight after undergoing a minor operation on his thumb so Luke Daniels will provide back-up to Ben Foster on the bench.

Winger Jerome Thomas is still missing following a knee operation.

Squad from: Foster, Daniels, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Popov, Jones, Dawson, Yacob, Mulumbu, Morrison, Gera, Lukaku, Brunt, El Ghanassy, Long, Jara, Fortune, Rosenberg, Dorrans, Tamas, Thorne, Hurst.

Aston Villa

Stephen Ireland (wrist), Richard Dunne (groin) and Gary Gardner (knee) are all ruled out but Australian winger Brett Holman could return following the knee injury that forced him to miss Tuesday's cup win against Manchester City.

Recent signing Joe Bennett is doubtful after picking up a knock against City.

Squad from: Guzan, Vlaar, Clark, Lowton, Lichaj, El Ahmadi, Delph, Holman, Agbonlahor, Bent, Benteke, Given, N'Zogbia, Weimann, Bannan, Albrighton, Burke, Herd, Baker, Bowery, Westwood, Williams, Bennett.

QUOTES

Baggies' defender Liam Ridgewell:

“It is a special game personally. You are playing Villa, a big club, who have been around a long time, and we are looking to try and get a good result.

“The rivalry has always been there for everyone, I know, I've got
Albion, Blues and Villa mates. It is a big game everyone wants to do well in. They are just down the road. That's the main thing about it, like Liverpool-Everton.

“We will go there with good confidence and show how good we are. We wanted to finish as high as possible last season and I'm sure for the fans it was nice to finish above Villa. But we are just taking it as another game against Villa - we want to win and do well against them.”

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Villa manager Paul Lambert:

"I think Villa Park will be jam-packed. Sunday will be a great atmosphere because of what happened on Tuesday and the last home game against Swansea. I know they will come and back us after the other night.

"You can sense the fans are up for it as they were against Manchester City in that bad weather and the long journey they had. They were brilliant against Southampton and the last home game against Swansea was absolutely bouncing. I think this will be better. This will be something I'm looking forward to seeing!

"I love these games and the pressure of them. I can't wait. I know how important it is for fans - any derby game. They are vital. When it's your own derby in your own backyard you definitely want to win it. I know how important it is for the fans to get one over on their rivals. We will go and try to win."

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MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 15/8, Aston Villa Win: 7/5, Draw: 23/10.

First Goalscorer

Bent 5/1, Agbonlahor 6/1, Benteke 6/1, Long 6/1, Weimann 7/1, Lukaku 7/1, Bowery 8/1, Burke 8/1, N'Zogbia 8/1, Fortune 9/1, Rosenberg 9/1, Holman 12/1, Brunt 12/1, Dorrans 12/1, Gera 12/1, Morrison 12/1, Albrighton 14/1, El Ghanassy 14/1.

REFEREE

Anthony Taylor (Manchester) - Refereed two Albion games last season and both ended in victories for the Baggies - The 3-2 win at Newcastle United in December and the 2-1 win at Stoke City in January.

TICKET INFORMATION

Albion's allocation of 2,800 tickets for the game have now completely sold out.

WEATHER FORECAST

Cloudy with a 20% chance of rain, 14°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

The first ever game between the famous old clubs came in December 1882 when they met in a second round Staffordshire Cup match at Perry Barr, a game that ended in a 3-3 draw. George Bell (2) and Harry Aston were the Albion goalscorers.

The first league meetings took place during the inaugural Football League season of 1888/89. The first game, played at Perry Barr on January 19, ended in a 2-0 defeat for the Baggies, Dennis Hodgetts and Albert Allen the Villa goalscorers. The return match at Stoney Lane a week later saw the two teams share six goals in a 3-3 draw, Tom Pearson and the aforementioned Allen scoring two goals each.

Albion’s biggest win against Villa is 7-0 which came in a First Division match at Villa Park on October 19, 1935. W.G. Richardson scored four of the visitors' goals with Stan Wood, Jack Mahon and Jack Sankey the others on the scoresheet.

Other big wins for the Baggies include 6-2 at The Hawthorns in 1926/27 and 6-1 in a League Cup tie, again at The Hawthorns, in September 1966. Midfielder Bobby Hope scored three of the Albion goals in the latter match.

Villa’s biggest win against Albion is 7-1, achieved in a First Division game during the 1898/99 season. Bill Garraty, who would later join the Baggies, scored a hat-trick.

Villa have also recorded a 6-3 win at Stoney Lane in October 1893, and a 6-1 victory at Villa Park in a First Division game in April 1954.

Albion are unbeaten in their last three games against Villa, winning two and drawing one. Prior to the first of those victories in April 2011, the Baggies had gone 17 league and cup games without a win against their old rivals.

Strangely, six of the last eight games between the two sides have ended in a 2-1 scoreline.

LAST LEAGUE MEETING

Albion 0-0 Aston Villa
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 28th April 2012, 3:00pm

Albion: Foster, Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Brunt, Mulumbu (Andrews 79), Dorrans, Thomas, Odemwingie, Long (Fortune 69). Subs not used: Fulop, Shorey, Dawson, Cox, Scharner.

Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Cuellar, Dunne, Lichaj, N'Zogbia (Gardner 74), Clark (Carruthers 90), Herd, Warnock, Agbonlahor, Heskey. Subs not used: Guzan, Collins, Ireland, Bannan, Weimann.

Booked: Warnock 36 (foul), Hutton 42 (foul), Clark 59 (foul), Heskey 62 (foul)

Attendance: 25,984

Referee: Mark Clattenberg (Tyne & Wear)


Aston Villa edged closer to Barclays Premier League survival after collecting a hard-earned point against West Brom at the Hawthorns. But it needed a controversial refereeing decision by Mark Clattenburg to deny Albion victory after Villa defender Alan Hutton clearly used his arm to block a goal-bound header from Liam Ridgewell. But Clattenburg and his assistant failed to spot the incident and the visitors survived to earn their 16th draw of the campaign. Alex McLeish's side deserved their share of the spoils on the balance of play and were again left to rue failing to be more clinical in front of goal. Gabriel Agbonlahor, Chris Herd and Charles N'Zogbia all failed to make the most of gilt edged chances and Albion's Ben Foster was the busier of the two keepers. The return of experienced defender Richard Dunne after a two and a half month lay-off with a broken collarbone also brought a steadying presence to the Villa back four.

Villa looked full of attacking intent in the early stages and Charles N'Zogbia found Stephen Warnock in space and his shot was blocked by Billy Jones. But Albion nearly caught out Villa during their first serious counter-attack. Carlos Cuellar failed to make clean contact on his attempted clearance from Shane Long's cross-shot after a determined run by the Republic of Ireland striker. The loose ball broke to 11-goal leading scorer Peter Odemwingie whose close-range back heel was blocked. The first clearcut chance fell to Villa midfielder Chris Herd after 26 minutes. Dunne showed good control to the right of Ben Foster's goal before sending over a low cross which landed in Herd's path. He struck his shot firmly enough but it flew straight at Foster who was able to make the save. Agbonlahor, without a goal in 20 league games, then used his pace to get clear of the Baggies back four. But his touch was heavy inside the area and Foster was able to block his eventual shot. Foster then blocked another shot from Agbonlahor, whose pace was causing problems for Jones, with his feet. Warnock became the first player to be yellow carded after 36 minutes for bringing down Long who needed treatment before being able to resume. Hutton followed Warnock into referee Mark Clattenburg's notebook after pulling back Jerome Thomas. Brunt looked to handle a ball into the box from Hutton but Villa's penalty appeals were waved aside.

Albion were incensed when denied what appeared to be a clearcut penalty four minutes into the second half. Ridgewell climbed above the Villa defence to power in a header from Graham Dorrans' corner. Hutton, who had already been booked, appeared to scoop the ball over the bar with his arm. But Clattenburg turned aside Albion's appeals. Albion were looking sharper and Gareth McAuley headed just wide from a Brunt free-kick. But Foster again came to Albion's rescue when he blocked a fierce close range attempt from N'Zogbia after he was completely unmarked from Agbonlahor's accurate cross. Tempers were becoming frayed and Clark and Heskey were booked in quick succession for challenge on McAuley. Cuellar came to Villa's rescue when he headed Odemwingie's shot off the line. Albion were now looking more dangerous and Jonas Olsson was only inches too high with a header from a Thomas cross. Villa probed for a winner in the closing stages and a mix-up between Olsson and Foster saw the ball break to Agbonlahor. His cross was turned back by Heskey to Herd whose shot was blocked by Olsson. Given produced a superb save with seconds remaining to keep out an Odemwingie volley from Thomas' cross.

Sporting Life

CURRENT CONNECTIONS

Albion's current first choice left-back Liam Ridgewell started his professional career at Villa Park after leaving West Ham United as a 16 year old. Ridgewell spent just over six years at Villa before leaving to join arch-rivals Birmingham City in a £2million deal. Ridgewell  would stay at St Andrews for four and a half years before joining Albion in January of this year.

Baggies' goalkeeper Boaz Myhill started his career at Villa Park but failed to make a single first team appearance. In December 2003 and after loan spells at a number of different clubs the American born keeper joined Hull City on a permanent deal. In July 2010, after having spent a hugely successful six and a half years at Hull, a spell which saw him play in all four divisions for the club, Myhill moved to The Hawthorns.

PAST CONNECTIONS

Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Albert Aldridge, Darren Bradley, Franz Carr, Scott Carson, Andy Comyn, Paul Crichton, Jim Cumbes, Neil Cutler, Curtis Davies, John Deehan, Jack Devey, Derek Dudley, Jimmy Dugdale, Lloyd Dyer, Ugo Ehiogu, Albert Evans, Graham Fenton, George Garratt, Bill Garraty, Andy Gray, Tommy Green, Willie Groves, Harry Hadley, George Harris, Tom Haywood, Robert Hopkins, Steve Hunt, George Johnson, Phil King, Zat Knight, Arthur Loach, Ken McNaught, Luke Moore, Tony Morley, Dennis Mortimer, Tom Perry, Kevin Phillips, Tony Rees, Cyrille Regis, John Reynolds, Bob Roberts, Riccardo Scimeca, Nicky Shorey, Jimmy Spencer, Nigel Spink, Kenny Swain, Garry Thompson, Andy Townsend, Gavin Ward, Dave Walsh, Steve Watson, Freddie Wheldon, Jimmy Williams and Charlie Wilson.

Ron Atkinson, Ron Saunders and Brian Little all managed both clubs; Former Baggies' boss Ron Wylie played for and was later a coach at Villa; Another former Albion manager Alan Ashman later scouted for Villa; Brian Whitehouse, an Albion player during the 1950s and coach during the 1970s, coached at both clubs; Ex-Villa defender Allan Evans was a coach at The Hawthorns under Brian Little; Former Albion full-back Stuart Williams spent a short time as trainer at Villa Park; Paul Barron, who kept goal for Albion during the early 1980s, coached at Villa during the 1990s.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS ASTON VILLA

 VENUE P W D  L F A
 Home 78 32 19 27 121 107
 Away 75 19 12 44 88 136
 Neutral 5 1 1 3 5 6
 Total 158 52 32 74 214 249

LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST ASTON VILLA

 DATE  COMPETITION H/A F-A  GOALSCORERS  GATE
 Sat 28 Apr 2012  Premier League H 0-0  25,984
 Sat 22 Oct 2011  Premier League A 2-1  Olsson, Scharner - Bent (pen)  34,152
 Sat 30 Apr 2011  Premier League H 2-1  Odemwingie, Mulumbu - Meite (og)  25,889
 Sat 11 Dec 2010  Premier League A 1-2  Scharner - Downing, Heskey  37,015
 Sat 10 Jan 2009  Premier League A 1-2  Morrison - Davies, Agbonlahor  41,757
 Sun 21 Sep 2008  Premier League H 1-2  Morrison - Carew, Agbonlahor  26,011
 Sun 09 Apr 2006  Premier League A 0-0  33,303
 Mon 02 Jan 2006  Premier League H 1-2  Watson - Davis, Baros (pen)  27,073
 Sun 10 Apr 2005  Premier League A 1-1  Robinson - Vassell  39,402
 Sun 22 Aug 2004  Premier League H 1-1  Clement - Mellberg  26,601

 

 
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