Aston Villa 1 (Platt) Bradford City 0. Old Second Division. 1988. This was the first football match I ever watched and I instantly fell in love with Villa's goal scoring hero, a fish shaped man called David Platt. I later came to realise he wasn't that good but the point is that, at the time, I thought he was a footballing god.

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Since Randy Lerner appointed Martin O'Neill as Aston Villa manager, the club's fortunes seem to have changed. No, Villa haven't realistically competed for any silverware yet, but there are certainly promising signs at the club. Villa have recently appeared to be a club who are a solid top 6 team, with some promising talent on their books.

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After viewing photographs in The Guardian last week about the greatest number of league grounds that can be seen on a single train trip in Great Britain, the feature got me thinking about my life growing up in Wales.

From as far back as I can remember, I always loved traveling.

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Aston Villa stamped their authority in this thrilling encounter at Villa Park. Aston Villa beat Bolton 5-1 in this game. Click to continue reading...

Martin O'Neill's side showed great character to come back from their midweek defeat at West Ham to annihilate Bolton at Villa Park.

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Does it get much better?

Manchester United visits Chelsea this weekend with first place on the line.

I could stop there, but then this wouldn't be much of a preview, would it?

Before we get into the games, check out the TV schedule.

And don't forget to tab the winners with the EPL Talk Predictor.

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It's the FA Cup First Round this weekend so, in the first of five pieces about the Oldest Cup Competition In The World (and there's a phrase that is probably copyrighted by The FA), we take a look back at Wycombe Wanderers' run to the semi-finals of the competition in 2001.

The FA Cup is a competition that throws up surprise results every season, but some records remain and one that may never be broken is that no-one from the bottom two divisions of the Football League has made The FA Cup final.

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Emile Heskey has been offered words of encouragement from Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill. Heskey is known to be unhappy with his lack of playing time at Villa Park, and with his World Cup spot on the line, O'Neill indicated that Heskey still figures into his plans.

The former Liverpool striker has been heavily linked with a move in January, but O'Neill's comments suggest that he can relate to the striker's situation.

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A common theme I have posted about this season is expectation - where victories become a formality. This is what can ultimately separate teams who do, and don't make it to the top four.
Whilst the media focus on defeats (as we have seen with Liverpool recently), too many draws can be equally damaging in terms of ambition. Click to continue reading...

Chelsea came out of a disappointing weekend in the Premier League at Villa Park with an emphatic 4-0 over Athletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge. The attack from the Londoners in their Group D encounter was relentless, as Ivory Coast International, Salomon Kalou scored in both the halves. Lampard scored one of the other goals, whereas Luis [. Click to continue reading...

Lately he's been a man on a mission, and the Republic of Ireland international is hoping to continue his current form. That's right, I'm talking about Aston Villa center back Richard Dunne. The man is doing it all for Aston Villa right now, and it is paying major dividends for his club.

Let's rewind back two weeks you know, before that extremely boring international weekend?

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Here I was, about to discuss our fallacies at Villa Park with a CL preview to follow when I come across this atrocity. Cue the projectile vomiting. Your thirst for sensationalism knows no bounds, Daily Mail. I thank you.

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First Star: Brad Friedel was in goal for Aston Villa, 2-1 winners over Chelsea at Villa Park. Chelsea went up in the 15th minute through Didier Drogba, but goals from Richard Dunne (32nd) and James Collins (52nd) gave Villa three points. The win has Villa in sixth-place with 16 points from eight games played. Click to continue reading...

There's something afoot in the court of Chelsea. After a start to the season that carried on the way that last season ended (high octane football mixed with the arrogance of the club that knows that it is amongst the best in Europe), they have started to look just a little bit ropey of late.

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After the two-week international break, it was refreshing to see the return of the Premier League. Within minutes I could see why I had missed it so much. Vocal crowds singing songs, the fast pace of the football and the entertaining open style of play.

The four takeaways I had from this game were:

1. Is Aston Villa the reverse of a flat track bully?

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I expected the Bolton match to be hard-fought, gritty, and all you could associate with a fixture played on the back of an international break. As the match started playing out, a little bit of revisionism struck and I actually felt we would walk it. But somehow, we contrived to make it harder for ourselves towards the end, and it ended as nervously as I first thought it would.

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Chelsea was shocked at the hands of Aston Villa, as Martin O'Neil's side came off as 2-1 victors at Villa Park. Former West Ham United Defender, James Collins, scored his first goal for Aston Villa and handed Chelsea their second successive away defeat in the Premier League Championship. It did start well for the Blues, as star [. Click to continue reading...

Today Man United took on Bolton at Old Trafford, minutes after Chelsea lost 2-1 to Aston Villa at Villa Park.
United were without Nemanja Vidic and Wayne Rooney who were both out injured. Edwin Van Der Sar returned but Ben Foster wasn't even on the bench.
Man United got off to an early start after scoring with their first chance of the game. Click to continue reading...

Martin Laursen is gone but Aston Villa's set piece threat remains. Villa's "Twin Towers" were brilliant defensively and also scored two thunderous headers to win the game for the home side.Dunne and Collins goals propelled Aston Villa to joint third with Tottenham and Man City with 16 points.The 2-1 defeat in Villa Park would be a psychological blow to Chelsea, who had lost twice in as many away Click to continue reading...

Here we go back with the Premier League and a trip to Villa Park for the early kick off. The same game last season, Guus Hiddink's first as Manager of Chelsea ignited the spark that set up our fantastic end of season run in. This time its different as we sit top of the league and we will be looking to extend our advantage in a game that is no easy three pointer! Click to continue reading...

Here we go back with the Premier League and a trip to Villa Park for the early kick off. The same game last season, Guus Hiddink's first as Manager of Chelsea ignited the spark that set up our fantastic end of season run in. This time its different as we sit top of the league and we will be looking to extend our advantage in a game that is no easy three pointer! Click to continue reading...

Time to get back to work.

The international break is finally over congratulations, by the way, to Ghana for becoming the first African nation to win a major competition with a dramatic penalty shootout triumph over Brazil in the U-20 World Cup and Chelsea open the Premier League slate this weekend at Aston Villa.

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Aston Villa welcome Chelsea at Villa Park in an early Premier League kickoff on Saturday 17 October 2009 as both teams try to build upon their good starts to the season.

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Aston Villa-Chelsea

This is the lone battle of Premier League giants this week and I've already come up with a clever match title. The Thrilla in Villa Park hosts the number seven club, Aston Villa, verses the number one squad, Chelsea. Chelsea has only lost once so far this season; whereas Aston Villa is one of the hottest teams recently with only one loss and one draw in their last six competitions.

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Rafa Benitez has offered current Aston Villa striker Emile Heskey a lifeline as the big man tries to cement his spot in Fabio Capello's upcoming World Cup squad.

Heskey has been out of favor at Villa Park this season, starting only one of Villa's Premier League fixtures this season and is yet to find the back of the net in his five appearances.

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Is there any reason Heskey would find first team football at Anfield, if he can't get it at Villa Park? The answer, in case you were wondering, is no!

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Emile Heskey's World Cup dreams have been the focus of yards of newsprint this week, despite not involving anything Freud would give a second glance to.

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Let's now jump forward from Crystal Palace and the Kung-fu nightmare at Selhurst Park in January 1995 to Crystal Palace at Villa Park on Sunday 9th April. Old antagonisms from the league encounter had hardly had time to subside when United were to face Palace again, this time on neutral turf in the FA Cup Semi Final which United had reached by beating Sheffield United, Wrexham, Leeds (yes!

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Rafa should consider unsettled Man City winger as an affordable potential signing.

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Manchester City winger Martin Petrov has expressed his frustration at being left on the bench.

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There has been quite a lot of talk about goal celebrations over the last few weeks. This was largely due to Emmanuel Adebayor's ridiculous decision to sprint the length of the pitch and skid like a kid at a wedding when he scored against former employers Arsenal. The Togo striker was reprimanded by the FA after that ill-advised move, but since then Adebayor should have learnt a lesson in humility from his team-mates and a former City star.

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Manchester City got more than they had deserved when Craig Bellamy scored the crucial 70th minute equalizer to draw at Villa Park. The points arrived at the end of a negative City performance. Personally, I am expecting a lot more from a £120m ++ team.This was Gareth Barry and Richard Dunne's first meeting with their former clubs. Click to continue reading...

I noted in a recent post that so often, goals from set pieces can be the difference maker in Premier League games.
And at half time last night this looked to be the case. Two very evenly matched sides in terms of personnel and outlookwere seperated by a Richard Dunne (didn't you know it) header from a corner. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa has been a Jekyll and Hyde team so far this season. While they have yet to surpass the impressive performances they showcased for portions of last season, they showed glimmers of hope Monday night with an admirable defensive display against a very talented Manchester City team.

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Prior to the match, everyone claimed they didn't know how Aston Villa fans would receive Gareth Barry upon his return to Villa Park as a member of Manchester City. The deluded Mark Hughes hoped they would express respect for his service to the club, while Martin O'Neill said he wasn't "God Almighty" and that it's not his place to tell people what to do.

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A goal from former Man City man Richard Dunne gave Martin O'Neill's side the lead but a well worked equalizer from Craig Bellamy leveled things in an engrossing draw at Villa Park.

1-0 Dunne

1-1 Bellamy

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Barry set for warm reception!

Steve Sidwell could earn a Villa recall, having recovered from the hamstring strain that caused him to miss the defeat at Blackburn.
Luke Young is unlikely to start his season until after the international break as he builds up his fitness.

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