Five points clear of Arsenal and twice as likely to win the league

January 29, 2009 by Martin Banks
Filed under: Aston Villa, Transfer News 

0pic35Villa were yesterday moved to level odds with Arsenal to win the Premier League this season.

Now they have been moved to twice as likely.

Villa’s odds are now 33/1 and Arsenal’s have fell from 40/1 to 66/1, after a Villa victory and a late-scraped draw for the Gunners saw us move 5 points clear of them in the top four. Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Wigan and Chelsea’s 2-0 home win over Middlesbrough means they are both a solitary point ahead of us, and Man Utd are 3 points ahead with a game in hand.

Whether we can keep the pace till May with the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea has always been in serious doubt, but whilst it is still unlikely, it’s not so hard to imagine now. Villa have been on a fantastic run of results; 6 away wins in a row, and unbeaten since Middlesbrough frustrated us at Villa Park, back near the start of November. It’s certainly not bad league form to be in.

Next up we have Wigan, so new boy Heskey will face his former club in his Villa Park debut if he plays. The following Wednesday we are at home in the FA Cup replay against Doncaster and the weekend after we have Blackburn away. We have to fancy our chances of stretching our unbeaten league run to 13 with those 2 fixtures.

But then the curse of unlucky 13 has every chance of kicking in.

The going gets tough in February

From 15 Feb to 26 Feb, we play 4 games in 12 days (provided we beat Doncaster, that is). Only 1 of them is a league game, but it is against Chelsea, so hardly a team we’d want to run a second string out against.

  • Sunday 15th we could be playing either Everton or Liverpool up in Merseysisde, if we can get past Doncaster.
  • Wednesday 18th sees us entertaining the Russians, in the first knockout round of the UEFA Cup, so MON will most likely be very keen to win and aim for European success.
  • Saturday 21st is the home game against Chelsea, which it is to be hoped will be a huge 6-pointer.
  • Then to finish the month off we travel to Moscow for the 2nd leg of the UEFA Cup battle with CSKA Moscow on Thursday 26th.

Reinforcements

To manage this and the rest of the schedule, we need to have a bigger and better squad. Next through the door could well be Charles N’Zogbia, who is rumoured to be in the Midlands at present, agreeing terms with Villa. Michael Owen could have been sat in his passenger seat car-pooling with him, but a new injury to the England star has no doubt ruled out any possibility of us wanting him till the summer at least. Maybe Owen should get a FRAGILE tattoo!

Villa are also believed to be looking at signing Josh Wright from Charlton. Wright is at present an unknown quantity in the dizzy heights of the Premier  League but his success to date and his age will make him appeal to Mr O’Neill. He has not long turned 19, plays in the middle of the park and has become popular at Charlton as well as at Barnet and Brentford, where he spent loan spells. Wright is still very much maturing though and wouldn’t be walking into the first team squad, despite representing England at U16, 17, 18 & 19. He would be one for the future, so it would be unlikely that MON would waste the last few days of the window securing him, preferring instead to go for him in the summer.

Finally, Paul Scharner is a possibility in the next few days, but as yet I have heard little with any substance, so I’ll keep you posted if I hear any more.


Comments

3 Comments on Five points clear of Arsenal and twice as likely to win the league

  1. Mickey G on Thu, 29th Jan 2009 8:27

    2. Villa have been very lucky latey…. can that last for the rest of the season? I think that’s unlikely. But they still have a good chance of finishing fourth. NOt necessarily at Arsenal’s expense though. Arsenal have important long term injuries coming back in the next few weeks and recent form hasbeen very good. Liverpool and Chelsea on the other hand are dropping points everywhere and have been very poor, Liverpool in particular. There are a few potential scalps in the league for Villa this year if they keep going but I’m not convinced Arsenal are the ones to finish outside the top four

  2. nickynicknick on Thu, 29th Jan 2009 9:48

    3. I’m a gooner, but have to say you are 4th on merit, if a little bit lucky. One word of advice to you Villains, please dont start crowing too soon, or the gods of football will turn on you. Just look at “top 4 this year” Spurs as an example.

  3. Martin Banks on Thu, 29th Jan 2009 12:04

    4. Who said Gooner’s are welcome on here?! ;) only kidding mate, you’re very welcome.

    Your advice is good and taken. Before the season everyone (even misery guts Hansen) said Spurs would break the top four quadropoly. Didn’t quite turn out tho did it?

    When you’re a team that doesn’t normally do well and are having a fantastic season, it’s hard to strike the right balance between ‘enjoying the ride’ and ‘being a big-headed twat who will have it bite him in the ass when it all goes wrong’!

    All the best in your quest for 5th ;) (Haha, see? It’s hard not to be obnoxious when things are going well :) )

Tell me what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!