Bristol City v Aston Villa Bristol City will be without centre-back Tomas Kalas as the Chelsea loanee recovers from surgery on a broken jaw he sustained in Friday's loss at Wigan. He adds to a growing Robins injury list including Mo Eisa, Korey Smith and Bailey Wright. Yannick Bolasie is close to making his first Villa start as the Everton loanee edges towards full fitness after a year out with a knee injury. He has made three substitute appearances since joining the club. Meanwhile, the Championship fixture has been put back to a 20:00 BST kick-off at short notice because of an anticipated capacity crowd. Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce told BBC Radio WM: "We haven't quite got the balance right yet, we've made a lot of mistakes defensively, and we're going to have to be a bit more resilient than we have been at the minute defensively. "We've tried to be a bit more expansive but for me we're too open at the moment, we haven't quite got the balance correct. "Fitting into what we did last year is easy for some, but the six that have now joined us will take a bit of time, it's not an excuse, it's the way it is." Match facts Bristol City's 5-0 defeat by Aston Villa in their most recent league meeting in January was their heaviest against them since November 1959 (also a 5-0 defeat). Aston Villa's last away league win at Ashton Gate against Bristol City was back in December 1979 in the top-flight, with Gary Shaw scoring a hat-trick in a 3-1 win. Aston Villa have won just one of their last seven Championship games (D4 L2) despite scoring in each of those matches (nine goals in total). Bristol City have won 14 points from their opening nine Championship games for the third consecutive season. Aston Villa have had more different goalscorers than any other team in the Championship this season (11 players). Bristol City's Andreas Weimann has scored five goals in nine Championship appearances this season, as many as he did in 42 outings for former club Derby in the competition in 2017-18. Prediction: Bristol City 2-1 Aston Villa The Robins may just have too much for the Villans this evening, who have really struggled throughout the month of September. Johnson will be eager for his side to pick up three points after seeing his side lose successive games on the road. Andreas Weimann could also get back on track against his former club tonight after failing to net in his last four games – he has scored five times in nine games for the Robins so far this season.
Can't put my finger on it exactly, but I'm not confident going into this one. Villa have definitely been shaky, but we're coming off the back of two defeats (though admittedly tricky) and they have the personnel that could/should be able to take this league by the scruff of the neck - the likes of Abraham, Kodjia and Adomah will probably enjoy playing at their old ground too. Hope I'm wrong as a win would go a long way to righting the wrongs of the past two games and should be enough for the top six by the end of the weekend - to only be four points from the top is still very good at this stage.
City will win, Bruce will get the sack and Villa will come in for LJ. People from the Midlands seem to like this part of the world and its inhabitants!!
Hope i'm wrong, but I cannot see anything else but a Villa win, I think we need to score at least 2 to stand any chance, so come on you city lads prove this old chap wrong.
Another old chap across the pond needs some satisfaction too but I have a squeaky backside right now.
Too close to call this. Villa have been poor but underachieving. If they ‘click’ we could be torn apart. They have players who would not look out of place in the prem. We can hurt teams if we try and use pace, but if we lump it to Diedhiou then we may as well acccept defeat. No disrespect intended to FD - he scores goals - but (as per my separate thread) we seem to play differently (worse) when he starts. He is an impact sub to come on at 70 minutes in my book - but that won’t go down well with the bigwigs who made him our most expensive player and they won’t want him on the bench.
We need to start with Taylor and Weimann and play on the deck.It is the only way to go. Fammy we become longball and hofball experts.
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Managed to see the second half. We looked the better side in a very scrappy game. The Sky commentary was so biased it was embarrassing. All Villa this and Villa that. Is it that ****e sides drag us down to their level? We seem to play better against good teams. Didn’t enjoy it at all. Very poor.
Report: Bristol City 1-1 Aston Villa Josh Brownhill’s well-driven strike earned City a point against a physical Aston Villa on Friday night. City looked in control for the much of the first half with the midfielder’s rifled strike settling the home side, before a sucker punch from Birkir Bjarnason saw the sides go into the break all square. Steve Bruce’s Villa dominated the early exchanges after the break but both sides rarely threatened with many chances. Lee Johnson’s boys did come back into the contest as the half progressed but it would end honours even. Johnson named three changes to his starting XI, with starts for former Villain Nathan Baker ahead of the injured Tomas Kalas and Callum O’Dowda and Matty Taylor in for Jamie Paterson and Famara Diédhiou, who moved to the bench. City started brightly under the Ashton Gate lights, with Brownhill almost turning provider but for Weimann, making his first appearance against his former club in a City shirt, heading over from the midfielder’s wicked cross. Villa did have the ball in the back of the net first though, when Tammy Abraham nodded past Niki Mäenpää, but the referee Tim Robinson adjudged a foul on the City keeper. However, Brownhill’s fantastic strike seemed to wrong foot Ørjan Nyland as he blasted City into a 16th-minute lead. It came after Weimann played a neat one-two with Taylor, with the Austrian striker wriggling forward on the edge of the Villa box. He was tackled but in doing so the ball rolled to Brownhill and the City number eight drilled his shot into the Villa net. Taylor could have made it 2-0 moments later, but his first-time shot lacked conviction as the Villa keeper stood up to the effort. Play shortly evened out with City looking comfortable. Villa’s only efforts in the first third of the match came from Conor Hourihane’s long-distance efforts which Mäenpää had covered, before Abraham’s weak strike from range after what was a good solo run. But with City looking good with half-time on the horizon, up pooped Bjarnason to head Villa level, as he guided Hourihane’’s cross into the net with the last touch of the ball in the first half. City were on the backfoot almost immediately after the restart, with a teasing cross from Hourihane resulting in heart in mouths for the City fans. The ball pinged around inside the penalty area before it was scrambled away amid calls from the Atyeo Stand for a Villa penalty. Bruce’s side were dominating the first ten minutes of the second half, and City’s keeper had to be alert as he tipped away a strong, spinning shot from John McGinn in front of a loud away end. City would soon get themselves back into the tie though, with more of the ball in the away end’s half around the hour mark. The question would be if they could turn their pressure into something substantial? More questions were asked of Bjarnason when the home crowd called for a handball after it skidded up, although the Villa forward’s arms were down by his side. Johnson rolled the dice with two attacking changes immediately after as Diédhiou and Jamie Paterson entered the fray in place of Matty Taylor and Callum O’Dowda, respectively. As for Villa, former Robin Yannick Bolasie got a run out with his physical and tricky presence looking to mix things up late on. Chances soon petered out, but City were growing in confidence and almost took the lead with momentum on their side, but Adam Webster’s near-post header scooped over Norland’s crossbar from a Niclas Eliasson corner. The defender would soon find himself in the right place at the right time to block a dangerous cross from the Villa right as the visitors looked to find a higher gear of their own. And they came a whisker to stealing all the points when Hourihane fired narrowly wide, before the full-time whistle confirmed the points would be shared. City remain eighth in the Sky Bet Championship, ahead of the weekend’s remaining fixtures. They return to league action when they travel to face Rotherham United on Wednesday night (7.45pm kick-off). https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/live-bristol-city-v-aston-villa/
If you watched it on the red button then that was not a sky reporter. It’s normally a home supporter someone like Adam Baker sort of role.
I guess it is pilot this year, hence the one camera action. But yep what I heard it’s a home based commentator. Which I guess they’ve been told not to be bias because at QPR the commentator was purring over Kelly.
