Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images.

Some serious heavyweights have been challenging for the title of Holiest Hip Dip lately. For example, we have it on good authority** that Micah Richards weighs at least as much as a Smart Car and could crush a person simply by sitting them.

Anyhoo, enough of our personal fantasies.

Match report Video By the numbers

That was, I would wager, our most comfortable win of the season bar, perhaps, the Blackburn game in which we scored 7. Villa came, had a look around, didn't fancy it, and got well and truly conquered.

I was expecting them to be much more difficult opponents, given the propensity for the withered, sunburnt testicle to set his team out to spoil and deny the opposition, but, even if those were the instructions, the Villa players didn't carry them out particularly well.

Back in August we tipped Aston Villa's Gabby Agbonlahor as our Funny Feeling Friday and he didn't disappoint. It was the second game of the Premier League season, Aston Villa were held to a scoreless draw in their first ... Continue reading →

A cat-themed team to celebrate last night's pitch invader at Anfield 1. Pussy Whiskerlainen 2. Kevin Muscat 3. Anton Furdinand 4. Claws Lundekvam 5. Darren Purrse 6. Lee Cattermole 7. Dirk Cat 8. Marouane Felinei 9. Dave Kitten 10. Tabby Agbonlahor 11. Ryo Miaowchi Manager: Kenny Dogleash (a cat's best friend)

A shaky performance, but we won. So, Yay?

An early pelanty goal from Robin van Persie, taking his tally to 34 goals in the calendar year, and a late goal from Yossi Benayoun (from a header, no less) secured a nervous, underperforming, but ultimately crucial midweek win at Villa Park today.

With Sunday's game against Aston Villa going ahead around 2pm, I can't help feeling that its a big test of our top four credentials this weekend.Alex McLeish has got Aston Villa playing very well again.But he has to do without Gabby Agbonlahor due to picking up five bookings so far this seasn.This may give vetern Emile Heskey a start againt his old club at Villa park.

Sitting five points off the coveted Champions League places, Liverpool will look to gain maximum points in their upcoming fixtures. If they can stay close to fourth over the coming weeks, with the January transfer window looming and Dalglish being clear they have the option to buy or not and Steven Gerrard's return imminent; there will surely be the belief and potential within the club to be genuine contenders for fourth, right to the final whistle of the season.

Downing returns to Villa...
Liverpool make their way down to the Midlands on Sunday for a game against Alex McLeish's Aston Villa. Villa at the moment appear to be struggling to score goals and with Liverpool creating chances but perhaps not converting as many as they should be, this could be an interesting fixture.

Reds Away To Villa

Downing returns to Villa... Liverpool make their way down to the Midlands on Sunday for a game against Alex McLeish's Aston Villa. Villa at the moment appear to be struggling to score goals and with Liverpool creating chances but perhaps not converting as many as they should be, this could be an interesting fixture.

Team news: Agbonlahor to miss Liverpool visit

Fabian Delph returns for home side

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-12-16 09:40:15 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

What are the odds Spain have more possession than England? Derek McGovern's Bets of the Day

Fabio Capello has been in a quandary all week over today's Wembley showdown against Spain. He wants to try out young, inexperienced performers but at the same time doesn't want to be humiliated.

Two goals for Darren Bent, both set up by Gabby Agbonlahor who also helped himself to a goal and a deserved Man of the Match award. Those goals were bookended by goals from Anthony Pilkington and Steve Morison for Norwich in an entertaining encounter at Villa Park.

Both strikers now have five goals apiece so far this season and should be expecting a call from Fabio Capello ahead of England's upcoming games against Spain and Sweden.

Wigan Athletic were finally beaten in the league at Villa Park in a comfortable win for the home side thanks to a goal in either half. The first, a brilliant effort from Gabby Agbonlahor, who then turned provider for the second; setting up an unmissable effort for Darren Bent in front of the Holte End.

Big weekend in the Premier League. The last gameweek before an international break. The two Manchester clubs continue to hog the headlines. Wayne Rooney's status is still uncertain (at the time of writing this post) and perhaps Welbeck and Hernandez ... Continue reading →

With five league games gone, I'm afraid it's time for the return of This Season vs Last Season lucky number 13. The series was born during the 2009/10 season as dissenting voices towards Martin O'Neill's stewardship grew louder and louder. Lots of comparisons were made to how many points we had at the same stage of the previous season, but comparing the fixtures on a like-for-like, or apples-to-apples, basis revealed that we were often doing better than the previous season despite how it seemed chronologically.

Another game, another draw. That's four draws and a win now in the Premier League. Gabby Agbonlahor gave cause for optimism when he opened the scoring somewhat against the run of play during the first half, but Leon Best cancelled that out during a second half the visitors largely controlled.

This was a good game between two well matched sides, and although Aston Villa took the lead after only 13 minutes through a nice goal from Agbonlahor, Newcastle came storming back, and eventually equalized through that man Leon Best again after 57 minutes. After the equalizer, the game was end to end, but then Cabaye twice in the last five minutes almost scored to bring Newcastle [.

By Alan Duffy

One wonders how much good new boss Alex McLeish will do for his Villa players' international prospects, but according to muscular hitman Gabriel Agbonlahor, former manager Gerard Houllier "killed" his England hopes.

The striker said: "Gerard was not much of a talker, it was more McAllister, but he was not very good to be honest.

The summer transfer window has finally come to a close, Alan Hutton and Jermaine Jenas both joined from Tottenham to complete our squad for the coming season.

Hutton joins on a four year contract and will be Luke Young's natural replacement, especially with news of Eric Lichaj's hip injury keeping him out for the next four months.

Alex McLeish kicked off his first Villa Park match with a near perfect start thanks to goals from Gabby Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey and Darren Bent. Only Morten Gamst Pedersen's very well taken header spoiled the perfect result. Most importantly though; three points and a convincing performance were required today.

szólj hozzá: www.1Goals.com AST 3-1 BR FT

Aston Villa went joint top of the EPL after beating Blackburn 3-1 at Villa Park today with goals from Gabby Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey and Darren Bent with Morten Gamst Pedersen getting the Blackburn goal.

Following this morning's chat about Arsenal's season, we're now taking a look at Aston Villa's, with Damian Dugdale from The Villa Blog. With Villa replacing Gerard Houllier with Alex McLeish, who has relegated hated rivals Birmingham twice, there's maybe not an awful lot to be happy about if you're a Villa fan at the moment.

English Premier League club Aston Villa has unveiled its 2011/12 Nike away kit. According to the Villans website: The white and pale grey change shirt with a claret trim collar, as modelled by star striker Gabby Agbonlahor, is available for pre-order now and will go on sale from July 14. All shirts purchased from Villa stores [.

It finished a point apiece at Bloomfield Road after neither side were able to improve on early goals from Gabby Agbonlahor and Eliot Grandin in a frenetic game that saw Jean II Makoun receive a straight red card for a two footed tackle with 20 minutes left to play.

It was a game that kicked off with a vibrant pace, both sides creating early chances, but it was Gabby Agbonlahor who opened the scoring with a superb run from the left, latching onto Darren Bent's nicely weighted pass.