Chelsea v Wolves preview

When John Terry says you are one of the best teams they've played this season, you know you've done alright.

Unfortunately that means Terry, and Chelsea, will certainly not be underestimating us.

AVB prays Stephen Ward will be rested

This is a huge game for Andre Villas-Boas, anything less than a home win and well, I think he will get the sack. Luckily for him, they are playing the right team...

Except! Maybe, just maybe Mick will remember our performance last year at Stamford Bridge, and try to replicate that this time against a more fragile Chelsea? That game is one of my favourites, we may have lost the game two nil but we gave them a right scare and also played some brilliant football at the same time.

With O'Hara and Hunt suspended it means we have to make changes and who knows, they could be blessings in disguise. Hunt hasn't played particularly well for a while now, whereas O'Hara has been caught between two positions. It all depends on the formation we play. I think Mick may go with 4-4-2, and bring Fletcher in which is a good thing, but also leaves us likely to be overrun in midfield. Then again, it worked for Liverpool last weekend.

You'd expect Matt Jarvis to come in at left midfield. I was surprised he didn't start last weekend, we badly needed his pace and with him likely to come up against Ivanovic you'd expect him to cause a few problems. In the middle, it's a question of who goes with Karl Henry? Nenad Milijas you'd think lacks the mobility, though we have seen some top performances now and then from him there. Adlene Guedioura may give us the legs there, but does he have the discipline? Tough decisions.

It all looks set for Ronald Zubar to come in at right back. Assuming he's fully fit, he could be a real bonus for us. We've lacked his enthusiasm lately and his pace and power is something we lack at the back. If he's not, Matt Doherty would be the second in line. He definitely looks like a future first choice right back for us, yes he had some problems against City in the cup but he was left isolated out there by Doyle.

Fletch could return

Expected line up:

Hennessey

Zubar
Johnson
Berra
Ward

Edwards
Henry
Milijas
Jarvis

Doyle
Fletcher

Like Everton last week, we have a good chance to frustrate the home crowd and put their players under even more pressure than they are under right now. If we try and keep the ball, and work it forward we may have a slight chance but sit back and give them the confidence to attack us and I fear for the worst.

I'll go for a 3-0 defeat, us containing them but getting tired and conceding a couple of late goals.

One of three

After hearing that Stephen Fletcher was a doubt for the game on Sunday the first thing that came to mind was, 'It's got to be 4-5-1'.  In fact as important as Fletcher is for us it could be a blessing in disguise, just for this game.

This looks like it is going to be a tight game with both sides desperate to avoid defeat to their closest rivals. With Peter Odemwingie also a doubt it means Albion are also more likely to pack the midfield. That's where the game will be won, and if we make a similar mistake to the one against QPR (in terms of selection and formation) the witch hunt will definitely be out for Mick.

But who comes in? Well for me it is one of a possible three.

Dave Edwards, Nenad Milijas and Adlene Guedioura.

All have their strengths and weaknesses, but it's a tough trio to decide from.

While Edwards brings enthusiasm and forward runs, he also lacks the quality. Milijas brings composure and keeps possesion but perhaps lacks the mobility and aggression for a derby like this. Adlene Guedioura (extremely impressive against Newcastle when he came on) has the grit, determination and skill yet the problem with him is discipline and the fear that he will do something reckless or stupid.

It's a tough choice, assuming Mick goes with a five man midfield.

What would you go with?

Aston Villa 0 Wolves 0

Well done Wolves. Another good away point that takes us to seven points from three games.

It was the type of performance we have lacked since returning to the Premier League. A tight game, where neither side looked like scoring. Last season we were a bit guilty of keeping the game open when maybe we shouldn't have. Against a pacy Villa team we did well to stop them from creating very little openings.

Credit for that goes to the manager. I was annoyed when Mick took Hunt and Jarvis off, for Elokobi and Foley but it was an excellent decision. After twenty minutes of pressure, we finally started to keep the ball better. Ward and Foley as the wide midfielders did that excellently.

Wayne Hennessey put in another confident, solid performance. He made a very good save from Gabby Agbonlahor after he breezed past Roger Johnson. He also made important punches from dangerous crosses, one in particular at the beginning of the game.

It's quite hard to believe, but our best player over the last three games has been our left back. Stephen Ward was assured at the back and intelligent going forward. In fact, I would go as far as saying he was our most dangerous player attacking wise!

It's a good sign that we didn't play particularly well and yet still managed to take a point away from home. In a situation like this last year, we may have crumbled under the pressure and lost the game by two or three goals.

Hennessey - 8

Stearman - 6
Johnson - 7
Berra - 7
Ward - 8

Hunt - 7
Henry - 7
O'Hara - 6
Jarvis - 6

Doyle - 6
Fletcher - 7

We have two home games coming up now, where we have been very strong in the last year or so. Can we maintain our unbeaten run going, it's a scary thought.