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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Aston Villa will be looking to build on their first Premier League win of the season as they face a trip to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.
The west Midlands side endured a rough opening two fixtures, agonisingly losing to Tottenham despite leading the match for 73 minutes before individual errors against Bournemouth left them with far too much to do.
Find out which Premier League stadium has been ranked the worst in the video below…
Roy Hodgson’s men also got off to a bumpy start, drawing with Everton despite them having ten men in the closing stages and losing to Sheffield Untied – but they managed to pull off the shock of the weekend by beating Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Patrick van Aanholt’s 93rd-minute winner came just four minutes after Daniel James thought he had salvaged a point from the match.
But what sort of encounter do we have on our hands this weekend?
On the Chalkboard
It’s going to be an almighty battle for Villa in terms of physicality – one that may swallow up club-record signing Wesley if they use him as a target man.
Scott Dann is averaging 5 aerial duels won per match whilst his defensive partners Martin Kelly and Gary Cahill aren’t too far behind with 2.3 and 2 per game respectively, per WhoScored.
We’ve previously highlighted Wesley’s early struggles with this aspect of the game but having won 5 aerial duels in his last two matches, the tides may be turning.
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It would be wise to play to his feet, allowing him to hold the ball up and distribute it about rather than trying to lump it up there as statistically, the Palace defence is going to relish that hugely.
As a team, they are third in the league for aerial battles won with 24 per game which only emphasises the physicality that this fixture may bring. Villa, in comparison, are eighth with 19 per match.
The Eagles are the worst for shots per game with a measly 5.7 a game so don’t expect it to be much of a goalscoring encounter on their part either.
Saying that, if Villa can master their macho backline then they’ll have every chance of gaining three points.
Wesley showed how good he can be with the ball at his feet against Everton. The Brazilian took the ball in his stride delightfully for his opener before holding it up astutely for Villa’s second.
They must use that to their advantage again.
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