FA Cup: Aston Villa V Blackburn Rovers – Saturday, 29th January

 

Aston Villa V Blackburn Rovers

Saturday, 29th January – 13:00 (GMT)
Venue: Villa Park

 

Aston Villa

It would be fair to say that Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has struggled to form any meaningful relationships since taking over the reins last October. From the moment he walked through the door, controversy has been like a shadow. He has frustrated his peers, upset the fans and reportedly fallen out with a number of his players. Does he care? It would appear not, as on Saturday, when his side face up to Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup, Houllier is willing to jeopardise his relationship with his squad by making a host of changes to his starting XI in a bid to protect the conditioning of his key figures ahead of a potentially make or break finish to the season.

With the 2010/2011 Premier League 24 games old for Villa, the Birmingham-based club still find themselves too close to the bottom three for comfort. Just five points separate the Villains from another uncomfortable spell inside the dreaded relegation zone, so you can understand where Houllier is coming from, to some extent. However, Houllier’s decision to rotate his squad on Saturday won’t go down too well with the supporters, who were used to watching their team compete to a high standard in virtually every match under former boss Martin O’Neill, especially the FA Cup. In fact, Villa made it all the way to the Semi-Final last season, as well as the final of the Carling Cup, so an early exit would only further enrage supporters who feel they’ve already had to put up with enough misery this season.

It’s a shame when you think about, as Villa were beginning to build up ahead of steam. Making changes could disrupt their rhythm and bring a promising run of form to an unsavoury end.

Goals from Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young, two of the more poignant figures in the Villa set-up who may sit out their team’s Fourth Round tie with Rovers, sealed a 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic during the week as Gerard Houllier’s men extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to four matches. The confidence in camp is high, especially after last weekend’s scintillating win over Manchester City at Villa Park, putting Villa on the verge of winning three successive games for the first time this season. Every single player put in an industrious shift, a really spirited display, and unquestionably their most accomplished performance of the season. So is Houllier shooting himself in the foot by messing with a winning formula?

Team News: Ciaran Clark, Fabian Delph and Stephen Ireland are all doubts with various injuries and knocks, while full-back LIndiae Young is almost certainly ruled out with a knee problem. Emile Heskey returns from his suspension, though fellow forward John Carew has joined Stoke City on loan. £24M rated Darren Bent, who scored on his debut against Man City seven days ago, is cup-tied after featuring in Sunderland’s shock home defeat to Notts County in the previous round.

 

Blackburn Rovers

In an interview with the Blackburn Rovers official website, Steve Kean, who recently signed on the dotted line in a deal which will keep him at the helm until 2013, believes his team will head over to Villa Park for their Fourth Round FA Cup tie with Aston Villa full of beans following their impressive win over West Bromwich Albion in the league last Sunday.

Victory over the Baggies lifted Rovers up to eighth in the table, just six points shy of the Europa League qualifying positions. But while the result did wonders for their European aspirations, it was their performance which earned them rave reviews. West Brom barely had a look in as Blackburn dominated proceedings from start to finish, with Roque Santa Cruz and Jermaine Jones both making their debuts. It was Kean’s fourth win as Blackburn boss, Sam Allardyce’s controversial successor seemingly doing a more than satisfactory job as the club continue to punch above their weight even without Big Sam.

Unlike his opposite number, Steve Kean has given no indication that he’s willing to run the risk of exiting the competition in the fourth round by making wholesale changes. So a full-strength Blackburn team currently boasting a wealth of confidence stand every chance of upsetting the odds on Saturday afternoon, and I do mean upset. Villa are a tough nut to crack on home soil, as they shown just seven days ago when beating Manchester City 1-0 courtesy of a Darren Bent poacher goal, while one win in their last nine visits to Villa Park only lowers everyone’s expectations of them on Saturday.

To further belittle their credentials of securing a berth into the Fifth Round at the expense of their Premiership rivals, Blackburn’s record on the road this season isn’t anything worth shouting about, particularly their away form of late. A 3-1 victory at The Hawthorns over West Brom, a venue not a million miles away from Villa Park, remains Blackburn’s only away win since November 10th, the Lancashire outfit having won just one of their last six away contests. Furthermore, 27 of the 37 goals they’ve conceded in the league this season have been on the road, not to mention Kean’s men failing to score in their last two away clashes.

Team News: Some positive news for Steve Kean in that both Vince Grella and Keith Andrews are back in contention after featuring in a behind closed doors game last week. However, Phil Jones remains a long term absentee while Brett Emerton is still away with the Australia national team. Roque Santa Cruz isn’t cup-tied and so is available for selection.

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2010/2011 FA Cup Results

Aston Villa

Third Round: Sheffield United 1-3 Aston Villa

Blackburn Rovers

Third Round: Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Queens Park Rangers

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Pointers

Aston Villa

- Gerard Houllier’s side are unbeaten in their last four matches in all competitions, winning their last two over Man City (1-0) and Wigan Athletic (1-2)

- Have lost just four of their fourteen games at home this season, winning seven.

- The Villains have only failed to score in one of their last seven matches at home.

- Only Blackpool, West Ham and Wolves have conceded more goals in the Premier League this season than Aston Villa’s 40.

 

Blackburn Rovers

- Blackburn have lost three of their eight matches under Steve Kean’s watch, winning four, the newly installed Rovers manager boasting a 50% win percentage.

- No team in the Premier League have shipped more goals away from home this term than Blackburn (27), who are conceding on average just over 2-goals-per-away-game in the top-flight.

- Have failed to score in their last two away matches, going a little over three hours of away football without scoring.

- However, Rovers have scored in nine of their twelve away league games this season.

- Three of Nikola Kalinic’s four goals this season have come away from Ewood Park.

 

Head-to-Head

- Blackburn have won just one of the last nine meetings in all competitions.

- Rovers won the most recent FA Cup encounter between the two, A Dwight Yorke brace helping Blackburn to a 4-1 victory at Villa Park back in 2003.

- These two have met on nine occasions in the FA Cup, Villa edging the head-to-head with 4 wins to Blackburn’s 3.

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Match Odds:

Aston Villa – 1.85 bWin
Draw – 3.75 VictorChandler
Blackburn Rovers – 4.60 VictorChandler