And then there was.....Aston Villa. That's right after glorious form Aston Villa are in the running for a league title. Granted their chances may feel slim with both Arsenal and Manchester City to get past but Villa are giving themselves a real chance. The Villains form has been somewhat incredible with 8 wins from their past nine matches. That one loss in the middle of the run came against of all teams Liverpool. While that result wouldn't have normally felt out of place the Reds have been on a dreadful run for two months and Villa would have gone into that game with many observers believing they could win it. The Liverpool result aside this has been a phenomenal run by Unai Emery's side. Villa's electric form over the past 9 games is actually better than Arsenal's in that time Villa has amassed 24 points from 27 and Arsenal 23 points and we all know just how strong the Gunners have been.
This season we have witnessed terrific comebacks from Aston Villa on a few occasions just take their latest game in midweek after being 2-0 down away from home against a tricky side in Brighton and yet Villa found the momentum and goals to roar back into an incredible 4-2 lead before Brighton scored again. One really has to wonder if Villa would not be top of the league had they not begun the campaign so poorly? As great as the club has been it's crunch time at the weekend where possible title credentials could go into overdrive or spiral out of control. Villa will play league leaders Arsenal in what looks like a mouthwatering clash. Win that and they would be just 3 points behind the Gunners, lose though and it's 9 points. This could well be one of the games of the season for what is on the line. In the last 10 league games played at Villa Park Arsenal has the better record with 6 wins, Villa has 3 and there has been one draw. Perhaps something in Villa's favour will be that every time in the league this season Arsenal have faced a real test they have failed to win failing to beat Liverpool, Manchester City, Sunderland away which was deemed a very tricky tie beforehand and most recently Chelsea. Neutrals will want to see a Villa win to keep the league title in a 3 team chase but history is favouring Arsenal. Here are the latest odds for what could well be an epic and telling game.
Aston Villa 4.00
Draw 3.25
Arsenal 1.91
Rob Edwards has already overseen 3 defeats as Wolves manager and he has only been in the job for 21 days. Wolves are still winless this season and in fact have not won a game since April. Granted their latest two defeats have been close calls only going down 1-0 in each game to Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest respectively but despite putting up more of a fight they were not the better team in either game. Wolves sit last with just 2 points and that is a joint Premier League record with Sheffield United who repeated that trick four years ago. Edwards has signed a three year deal and the thinking from the board one would suspect is to hire Edwards based on he should be the perfect manager in the Championship to get them back to the Premier League. Although talk about getting ahead of yourself. It would be sad to think that the board thinks Wolves are down. Yes it looks bleak but we have only entered December. Are the fans led to think that Wolves will not be able to invest in January if they have accepted their fate? If the board has, does this not filter down to the players? Time and again we have seen off the pitch incidents affect the form of the team and right now it feels like where in the hell are Wolves going? Of course it is the fans who are suffering the most and home season ticket holders have already had to endure no wins, six losses and just one glimmer of hope since August when they drew against Brighton. The home fans have only seen 6 goals this season, despite losing heroically in midweek. So there are big problems at the club and the three year gamble with Edwards feels just like that, a real gamble.
Perhaps Lucas Paqueta should go by the name of Lucas Paq it in. We have all seen in the last week how his ranting and petulance got him sent off against Liverpool. Paqueta post match declared that his frustration of a lack of support from the FA about the betting scandal involving Paqueta and how his career was in real jeopardy. Clearly as he said it took a toll on him. He has asked for psychological support. This seems strange from an individual who earns 4 times a nurse's yearly salary in one week. Could he not have booked a private one when he needed to? The average person would be looking at a cost of £50 per hour, this is a drop in the ocean for Paqueta. Why hasn't he looked for help if help was needed? Why did he bring this up as a justification for being sent off? True he sprinkled his words with apologies but it all seemed rather insincere. Mental health issues are serious and if Paqueta has a lot going on in his life stemming from the betting allegations it beggars belief that he or no one around him got help. The other worry in this story is that Paqueta has not taken the FA to court. Let's be clear the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence not because he wasn't guilty. So why would he not take the FA to court if he's done nothing wrong? If he has, it got cleared, move on with your very privileged life and don't blame anyone and bring up old stories because you lost the plot in a game when your team still had a chance of getting something from it. Sadly Paqueta comes from a long line of privileged players who simply aren't that good at football in the real world but would look incredible in an after work indoors five a side game. He has some lovely touches and skills but what has he done to impact West Ham in two years? Has he made them a better side, that's very debatable. Your average fan does not want to see elite over paid players moaning when there is no need too- sort your private life out and start performing on the pitch. Paqueta joins an ever growing list of cry baby footballers, headed by Yaya Toure and James Rodriguez of late, let's not forget basically the entire Chelsea team of 2016. With the Premier League increasingly going the American way, let's borrow one of their sayings to round up the Paqueta story, 'Enough already'.
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