Brum/Villa

Birmingham City have only won once in 10 cup games against the Villa but they may fancy their chances tonight. Villa have 10 first teamers out and will be fielding a young side again.

In Picklive terms this may all be irrelevant though. Even with their young guns Villa have had 10 different players score 50 or more in their last 3 Picklive outings, Birmingham only 5.

The Villa list looks like this (scores in last three matches in brackets):

Clark (78, 31, n/a)
Dunne (66, 75, 52)
Collins (62, n/a, 37)
Friedel (56, 58, 20)
Warnock (53, 54, 44)
Bannan (52, 69, 31)
L Young (47, 73, 30)
Downing (30, 65, 53)
Hogg (n/a, 55, 27)
Albrighton (n/a, n/a, 66)


And for Birmingham like this:

Johnson (60, 46, 32)
Larrson (57, 35, 1)
Ridgewell (54, 44, 33)
Gardner (53, 40, 44)
Ferguson (48, 62, 53)

Honourable mentions should go to Carr (36, 47, 42) and Dann (31, 47, 38) who have both almost reached the 50 mark and have a bit of consistency about them.

So, for Birmingham, the stand out pick is Ferguson who is by far the biggest and most consistent points scorer. After that I would go for Gardner whose 40 would've been a 50 were it not for a yellow card. 53, 50, 44 is dependable but not exciting and that's why.....


....I'm recommending going for Ferguson plus 4 Villa players. Narrowing those Villa players down to 4 is a trickier decision though.

First off I like Dunne, his score of 66 last time out included a 10 point assist but he consistently scores 50+ and his 75 proves he can score big too.

Clark was more impressive in midfield than at centre back and his scores reflect that (78 and 31 respectively). However, his 78 includes two goals and he has been booked in both of those Picklive games. You need him to score and I won't be risking that against a tough Birmingham defence.

Collins would've outscored Dunne last time out were it not for the latters assist. He could be a good pick if you want to drop the shoulder on all those players going for Dunne?

Friedel can score well but I just can't see him being that busy tonight.

Warnock is consistent but I just don't excited about picking him. He doesn't seem as dynamic a player as he once was and he seems to get involved in spats and unnecessary challenges. He is solid though and, much like Gardner earlier, will be close to sneaking in the five for the Big Game.

I've been deeply impressed by Bannan and he's delivered solid scores in the last two games. His 31 would've been more impressive without the yellow card, especially as it was a low scoring match for Villans.

Luke Young is similar to Dunne as he is consistent but also capable of big scores, that 73 is his second of the season. I think Dunne edges him though.

Downing has posted some good scores this season (including a 71 and two 65s) but needs to have a great game and/or score to be worth picking. He's hard to leave out - toss a coin?

I haven't got enough stats on Hogg to argue his case and Albrighton looks like he's out injured. So lets roundup with my picks:

My team tonight: Ferguson, Dunne and Bannan are certainties if they start. After that I will go for either Clark or Downing and try and get a goal. Plus one from the dependables: Collins, Luke Young, Warnock or Gardner.

Good luck!

by

BensBulls
(Ben Wraith)