Photo by Neil Tingle/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

Despite Aston Villa's best efforts, it appears Robbie Keane will head back to the Los Angeles Galaxy later this month -- just as scheduled.

The Villans had hoped to tack another week onto Keane's loan after the Ireland international bagged three goals in his first four EPL appearances for the mid-table club.

Arsene Wenger has openly spoken of his delight about Arsenal's thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 win to progress to the FA Cup fifth round at the expense of Aston Villa but refuses to discuss the half-time conversation with his players.

The Gunners were 2-0 down heading into the interval following goals from Richard Dunne and Darren Bent but two second-half penalties from Robin van Persie and a deflected goal strike from Theo Walcott completed a memorable triumph.

By Alan Duffy

Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa FA Cup 29th January 2012

With Aston Villa going in at half-time two goals up, Arsene Wenger would no doubt have been preparing himself for a mountain of abuse from the Emirates crowd for the rest of the afternoon.

The Ox in the box will be quick as a fox to knock of Villa's socks

Jack Wilshere was set for a return mid February setting the medical world abuzz with his miraculous return. Then he suffered a stress fracture in the same ankle during training and now the story is he's lost for the rest of the season or at least a good portion of it.

By Alan Duffy

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 Aston Villa Premier League 21 January 2012

Joining the procession of MLS stars getting in a bit of off-season action in the Premier League, LA Galaxy striker Robbie Keane returned to the home of his first professional club, only to help send Wolves to a 3-2 defeat.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht returned to league action this weekend for the first time since December, and they both picked up right where they left off.

RSC Anderlecht continued its winning ways with a 3-0 victory over third-place Club Brugge on Sunday.

By Alan Duffy

Aston Villa 1-1 Everton Premier League 14th January 2012

Alex McLeish's Villa side once again struggled in front of their home fans, drawing with Everton to make it just three wins out of 10 home league fixtures for the Villans.

photo by Neil Tingle/ISIphotos.com

Shay Given has recovered from his groin injury and has returned to training for Aston Villa, but that does not necessarily mean he is going to supplant Brad Guzan as the Villans' starting goalkeeper.

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish is keeping his options open in terms of who to start between the goal posts on a permanent basis as a result of Guzan's string of strong performances since filling in for Given since early December.

By Alan Duffy

Chelsea 1-3 Aston Villa Premier League 31st December 2011

Coming only days after he was chastised by manager Alex McLeish for being photographed with a hookah pipe and drink in hand, Stephen Ireland rediscovered his best midfield form to inspire the Villans to a superb and surpirsing victory at Stamford Bridge.

When Aston Villa starting goalkeeper Shay Given went down with an injury in an early December match against Manchester United, Alex McLeish was forced to turn to American backup Brad Guzan, who has been patiently waiting for a starting role in the Premier League ever since joining Villa from Chivas USA in 2008.

Boxing Day Preview: Manchester United, Chelsea And Winning Bets - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Premier League clubs are all set for Boxing Day showdown as 14 teams take to the field on Monday, with the remaining 6 playing on Tuesday. Here's a look at the choicest fixtures from the next two days and the best betting odds for them.

By Alan Duffy

Aston Villa 1-2 Arsenal - Premier League 21st December 2011

Wiry wingman Marc Albrighton netted the 20,000 goal in Premier League history but it was an under-par visiting Arsenal side that took home all three points in a tough, tense pre-Christmas encounter.

Liverpool have taken more points off Aston Villa than any other team in the Premiership, 68 points to be exact. Villa have let in seven goals through opposition setpieces prior to their match against the mighty Reds. And so, it was inevitable that Liverpool would get three points against the toothless Villans and that the goals came from corners meant that Liverpool exploited Villa's weakness.

Kenny Dalglish insists Liverpool are ready to tackle the busy schedule awaiting them over the Christmas and New Year period.
Following Sunday's clash at Aston Villa, the Reds will take on Wigan on Wednesday night before playing host to Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day.
Newcastle United then travel to Anfield on December 30, before Liverpool's first test in 2012 is against Manchester City on January 3, with the FA Cup third round tie against Oldham scheduled to take place just three days later.

United may not have had the best of weeks but the bookmakers make them a top priced 1.73 to bounce back and notch an away victory over Aston Villa and the stats suggest they will do just that.

Sir Alex Ferguson's young guns were frustrated in their 1-1 draw with Newcastle last weekend, as Javier Hernandez's opener was cancelled out by Demba Ba following a controversial penalty decision that the gaffer described as "shocking".

Rafa clearly believed in the power of his groin a little too much"Pay your tax, my lord, pay your tax," the Aston Villa fans sang to Harry Redknapp, to the tune of 'Kumbaya', during the second half on Monday night. Within seconds, the home crowd replied in near unison with: "2-0 down, my lord, 2-0 down, oh you're 2-0 down.

Darren Bent's brace against Norwich on Saturday took his Premier League career goal tally to 96, he's just four short of joining the Ton Up Club.

It's a pretty exclusive club with former Villans Dwight Yorke and Dion Dublin, plus current Villan Emile Heskey, among its 20 members.
Bent's definitely got his eye on getting past the doorman, he told the official site:

I've still got a few things I'd like to achieve, like 100 Premier League goals.

By Alan Duffy

Aston Villa 3-2 Norwich City Premier League 5th November 2011

A good old-fashioned five-goal thriller unfolded at Villa Park on Saturday, with the home side coming out on top courtesy of their in-form forward line.

By Alan Duffy

Aston Villa 1-2 West Bromwich Albion Premier League 22 October 2011

They may have benefited from an extremely harsh red card given to Villa's Chris Herd for a rather innocuous-looking tangle with Martin Olsson, but West Brom fully deserved their victory against their local rivals.

By Alan Duffy

Aston Villa 2-0 Wigan Athletic Premier League 1st October 2011

Fleet-footed attacker Gabriel Agbonlahor must surely be in line for a recall to the England squad after another superb and speedy performance on Saturday.

Wigan had no answer to the forward's pace, with Agbonlahor scoring one and providing the assist for the second (converted by Darren Bent).

By Alan Duffy

Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Aston Villa Premier League September 25 2011

Aston Villa came within touching distance of registering a valuable win at Loftus Road before man-mountain Richard Dunne put through his own net in injury-time to level the scores.

Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham Kick off: Saturday, 17th Sept, 3pm Referee: Neil Swarbrick Well if stats are anything to go by, our forthcoming away clash with the Villans, the result could well be another 0-0 like the QPR match. Of course though, there's been many a time in the past when people like myself written [.

In this age, tradition often cedes its elevated status to accommodation. So it was that as the day's West Midlands derby between Aston Villa and Wolverhampton evoked a sense of English footballing tradition just on name alone, it nevertheless had to be played earlier than the more traditional 3 pm time.

Former Manchester United and Aston Villa striker Dwight Yorke has expressed concern for the Villans, suggesting that a top half finish is out of their reach this season. The Villans have sold star players Ashley Young and Stewart Downing this summer, along with the loss of American goalkeeper Brad Friedel to Tottenham.

Losing the likes of Ashley Young and Stuart Downing already in this summer transfer window, Aston Villa are finally looking close to cover their loss after reports revealed that they are in the verge of signing Wigan Athletic's Charles N'Zogbia.

The club themselves confirmed that an agreement with Wigan have been reached and now the Villans only need to conclude personal deal with N'Zogbia before the player can be unveiled as Villa's new player.

English Premier League club Aston Villa has unveiled its 2011/12 Nike away kit. Its launch follows the release of the Aston Villa Nike 11/12 away kit last month. The kit unveiling took place of Tuesday evening at Star City in Brimingham. According to the Villans website: Villa stars took to the catwalk as the brand new home [.

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 [.

There were four, possibly five, Villans involved as England drew 2-2 with Switzerland and the United States were comprehensively beaten 4-0 by Spain yesterday. Darren Bent and Eric Lichaj started for their sides, Ashley Young and Michael Bradley entered their games at half time and Stewart Downing made a late appearance for England and almost won it with the final kick of the game.

Darren Bent completed the trio of Villans on England duty taking their turns in front of the media ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland. He talks about his ability and willingness to play in either a one or two striker system and how moving to Villa was the right move for him. I agree.

There was once a time when this Croydon-born, Sierra Leone raised central midfield dynamo was captaining West Ham United into the FA Cup final of 2006 to face the might of Liverpool. Reo-Coker, a former England under-21 captain, was the lynchpin in a midfield containing talents such as Yossi Benayoun and Matthew Etherington, yet Reo-Coker still stood out as the main force in the West Ham side.

Gerard Houllier could be in attendance on Sunday as Aston Villa entertain his former employers Liverpool.
The Villa boss is still recovering from the heart scare he suffered earlier in the season but is reportedly keen to prove that he is on the mend.
His presence would offer a timely boost to the Villans, with uncertainty continuing to reign regarding their managerial post.

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has hailed Aston Villa's signing of Darren Bent. Bent joined the Villans in a controversial move from Sunderland last week, and Mancini believes that the arrival of the English striker will drastically change Villa's fortunes.

"Darren has impressed me," Mancini said.

Our picks for the weekend a couple Premier League games, a couple Serie A games, a USMNT friendly, and the final of the Copa Centroamericano. As usual, culled from SoccerInsider's comprehensive listings, and all times ET:

Saturday, Jan 22

England, Wolves-Liverpool 7:30 a.

Martin O'Neill is still being touted as the man to replace the unlucky Avram Grant at the helm of West Ham United. The former Aston Villa manager is reported to be mulling over the possibility of being the Irons' new manager.
Avram Grant has always been unlucky in the English Premier League.