Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood has heaped praise on the club’s supporters ahead of the Friday night clash with Manchester United.
The Midlands club emerged as victors from a daunting opening weekend trip to newly-promoted Bournemouth but the 46-year-old is well aware of the different challenge posed by Louis van Gaal’s title-chasing side at Villa Park.
“I expect a tough game as you always do against Manchester United,” the former Tottenham boss said. “It’s a transition period for them, as it was last summer to be fair, but we fancy ourselves against them.
“We always fancy ourselves against any team, you have to think that you can impose yourselves on anyone. We all need to win whether your name is Van Gaal or Sherwood.”
New signing Rudy Gestede, who joined from Blackburn Rovers for £8m this summer, scored the only goal as Sherwood’s men silenced a buoyant crowd at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
Show all 17 1 /17Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 17) Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) – down 11 from last week There was a lot of optimism on the South Coast ahead of the club’s first ever match in the top flight, but Aston Villa did well to dampen the occasion before nicking a 1-0 win. Wilson is still the main man for the Cherries, but Bournemouth’s survival probably won’t be decided by a trip to Anfield, where they play Monday night.
GETTY IMAGES
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 16) Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle) – down 3 The powerful midfielder remains Newcastle’s Jack-of-all-trades, setting the tone in attack and defence with his athleticism, work rate and drive from midfield. He will have to be at his best if the Toon are to get past a well set up Swansea side.
GETTY IMAGES
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 15) Romelu Lukaku (Everton) – non-mover Laid on the late equaliser for Arouna Kone but Toffees fans will be disappointed that their £28m man didn’t do more against newly-promoted Watford, with the Belgian barely touching the ball in the first half. He must do more against a Southampton defence that is still learning to play together.
GETTY IMAGES
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 14) Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City) – new entry A brilliant solo performance from the Algerian who scored two goals and was full of energy and penetration all afternoon against Sunderland. Leicester City still look suspect at the back so will need their attacking players to win them matches rather than relying on their defence to tough it out. A visit to a solid West Ham team will be a good test.
Getty Images
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 13) Micah Richards (Aston Villa) – new entry Playing in the centre for Tim Sherwood’s new look Aston Villa defence, Richards is filling the big void left by Ron Vlaar. He did well against Bournemouth but will have a much harder contest against old foes Manchester United – still only 27, a run of good performances could make him an outside contender for an England call up, with Roy Hodgson light on centre-backs.
GETTY IMAGES
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 12) Mark Noble (West Ham United) – up 5 Reece Oxford (deservedly) got the headlines for his performance at Arsenal, the 16-year-old playing with a poise of men twice his age. But the skipper set the tone for a brilliant performance at the Emirates, making timely tackles and picking his passes. West Ham host Leicester and now must prove they can win matches when they are the team expected to take the initiative.
GETTY IMAGES
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 11) Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) – up 1 The England striker barely got a sniff at Old Trafford, with Chris Smalling and Daley Blind dominant. His best moment was the pass to Christian Eriksen, who should have scored. There is a lot of expectation on Kane’s shoulders after his break-out season last year – he must perform better against Stoke.
Getty Images
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 10) Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) – down 3 Philippe Coutinho was the match-winner against Stoke but Jordan Henderson is still the man who has to make Liverpool tick, especially with Steven Gerrard gone. Henderson and James Milner were still working out some kinks against the Potters but they looked solid and kept possession well. A home tie with Bournemouth should allow their partnership to further flourish.
GETTY IMAGES
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 9) Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace) – up 2 A late goal against Norwich was the cherry on top of an excellent debut for Palace’s record signing. Arsenal visit Selhurst Park on Sunday and Cabaye will be desperate to prove to Arsene Wenger that he should have signed him when he had the chance.
Reuters
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 8) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) – down 4 United didn’t create much at all for their star striker against Spurs, apart from the one opportunity that Kyle Walker mistakenly bundled home. Thankfully for United they travel to Villa Park, their favourite ground away from Old Trafford where they have lost just twice since 1992.
GETTY IMAGES
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 7) Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion) – new entry Manchester City were brilliant on Monday night but West Brom were absolutely toothless. Their game plan had been to contain the visitors and try and steal a win but as soon as they conceded early they had no choice but to try and attack – it didn’t work. Berahino scored plenty of goals last term and although he wants a move away he is going to have to keep scoring if he wants to keep teams interested.
GETTY IMAGES
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 6) Petr Cech (Arsenal) – down 3 A nightmare Arsenal debut for the goalkeeper against West Ham, easily one of his worst since arriving in the Premier League all those years ago. He will want to forget about as quickly as possible but Selhurst Park can be an intimidating and hostile place to try and restore a reputation.
AFP/Getty Images
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 5) Troy Deeney (Watford) – non-mover Didn’t get on the scoresheet against Everton but proved he will be a handful in his first season in the Premier League. A home game against West Brom is the type of game Watford have to win if they have any hope of survival this season – it’s been a while since Vicarage Road saw Premier League football so the Hornets will be desperate to impress.
GETTY IMAGES
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 4) Jermain Defoe (Sunderland) – up 5 Defoe did what he does and got on the scoresheet but it was the players around him who suffered against Leicester with a shoddy performance. It’s only the second week of the season but the match against newly-promoted Norwich already seems like a must-win for Dick Advocaat and the Black Cats.
Getty Images
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 3) Bradley Johnson (Norwich City) – down 1 The Canaries played really well last week and at the time of Cameron Jerome’s disallowed goal – it should have been allowed – they were well on top and might have gone on to win the match against Crystal Palace. At least a point at Sunderland is needed for the relegation fighters.
GETTY IMAGES
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 2) David Silva (Manchester City) – new entry I must admit, I had slightly written off City before the season after a poor, in my opinion, summer of business that only saw Raheem Sterling arrive. How wrong I was. City produced the performance of the weekend to completely dismantle West Brom. Yaya Toure was absolutely outstanding but the vision and craft of David Silva is an absolute sight to behold. No one plays the attacking midfield role better in the Premier League.
Getty Images
Premier League Power Rankings - Game Week 2 1) Eden Hazard (Chelsea) – non-mover The Belgian is still top but that’s not because he is producing at the highest level but more because Jose Mourinho and the Blues need him to produce some magic at the Etihad. Hazard has not had the best pre-season and looked tired against Swansea – he started almost every game for Chelsea in all competitions last season and carried the burden of being their go-to threat week in, week out. Chelsea cannot contemplate losing to Manchester City, and that Hazard was at the centre of the Eva Caniero storm only makes it that much more important for him to play well.
Getty Images
But a small minority of supporters bemoaned the visitors’ slow start to the match as Villa attempted to suck the life out of the Championship champions before a second-half offensive.
Sherwood added: “I was happy with the first half-an-hour because we knew the game plan meant we needed to dig in. We settled into it and started playing football in the second period.”
Villa have seen increased ticket sales since the enigmatic Hertfordshire-born boss replaced Paul Lambert last season and the club are expecting another sell-out when the Red Devils travel to the Midlands tomorrow night.
“It’s great, I’ve never been disappointed with the fan base at this football club. It’s magnificent and we’ll see that tomorrow. It’ll be packed to the rafters for what is a new era, really.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies