As announced yesterday, Aston Villa have had two further Premier League fixtures selected for live broadcast on Sky Sports, as well as their trip to Old Trafford switched due to Manchester United’s Europa League involvement.
Will these switches help or hinder Villa though?
First off the trip to Wolves has been moved to 2pm the next day to Sunday 10th November with 2pm kick-off. It’s a move that perhaps causes the least spin-off of inconvenience to fans due to it being a local derby, and as such, doesn’t really hinder the team either.
Monday Night Curse?
Those who are superstitious or statisticians though, won’t be too happy about the switch to a Monday night of the home game against Newcastle. The Villa Park clash will now take place on Monday 25th November, at 8pm.
Villa’s recent missed opportunity to get three points against the 10-men of West Ham, demonstrated what is fast becoming a Monday night football curse. Villa have only managed to win just one of their last 17 Premier League games on a Monday (D6 L10), beating Sunderland 6-1 in April 2013 under Paul Lambert.
So Monday night clashes are far from ideal for Villa. However, it could be argued that coming back from an international break, will at least give Dean Smith a couple of more days to train with returning international players, although Newcastle will obviously enjoy the same benefit.
December Hell
The United game switch due to their Europa League involvement, means the game will be pushed into the month of December, which now presents Villa with a whooping seven fixtures in that month (see below for fixture list).
It’ll certainly be a tough start to the month with fixtures against United (a), Chelsea (a) and Leicester City (h) in the first week of December.
There’s a reason why Dean Smith and his players were disappointed about the result against the Hammers, as when opportunity knocks for three points you have to take it.
” You’ve got to take three points against 11 men at home, let alone 10,” reflected McGinn, after the West Ham game. “We didn’t create enough chances with the extra man. It’s one that got away, definitely.”
“The feeling is disappointment”, he added.
He’s right, as looking at the fixture list in December (see below), it’s better to have points in the bag at that stage, rather than having the extra pressure of needing results in a period Villa recently haven’t exactly excelled in.
No doubt some fans will use the excuse of fixture congestion, if results again don’t go Villa’s way in December, but excuses don’t equate to points.
Hopefully, this upcoming month’s fixtures will be see a turnaround in results though.
UTV
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Remaining Aston Villa Premier League fixtures 2019/20
SEPTEMBER
22: 4.30pm Arsenal (a)
28 3pm Burnley (h)
OCTOBER
5: 3pm Norwich City (a)
19: 3pm Brighton (h)
26: 12.30pm Manchester City (a)
NOVEMBER
2: 3pm Liverpool (h)
10: 2pm Wolves (a) SKY TV
25: 8pm Newcastle United (h) SKY TV
DECEMBER
1: 4.30pm Manchester United (a)
4: 7.45pm Chelsea (a)
7: 3pm Leicester City (h)
14: 3pm Sheffield United (a)
21: 3pm Southampton (h)
26: 3pm Norwich City (h)
28: 3pm Watford (a)
JANUARY
1: 3pm Burnley (a)
11: 3pm Manchester City (h)
18: 3pm Brighton (a)
21: 7.45pm Watford (h)
FEBRUARY
1: 3pm Bournemouth (a)
8: 3pm Tottenham Hotspur (h)
22: 3pm Southampton (a)
29: 3pm Sheffield United (h)
MARCH
7: 3pm Leicester City (a)
14: 3pm Chelsea (h)
21: 3pm Newcastle United (a)
APRIL
4: 3pm Wolves (h)
11: 3pm Liverpool (a)
18: 3pm Manchester United (h)
25: 3pm Crystal Palace (h)
MAY
2: 3pm Everton (a)
9: 3pm Arsenal (h)
17: 3pm West Ham United (a)
UTV
