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Osaze
Odemwingie will lead his side to Villa Park in search of more points to
add to the 22 points already garnered. The Nigerian international,
named Barclays Player for October, resumed his good form with two well
taken goals against Newcastle. Odemwingie has now scored six goals from
eight games, and he puts the success down to his happiness at the
Hawthorns. “I look forward to training,” he said. “The players, the
manager, everything is okay and we are doing well getting good results.
This makes me happy here.”

Meanwhile new Aston
Villa coach, Gerrard Houllier, has derided comments made after the 3-0
defeat at Anfield. “I understand the fans’ feelings of hurt and
disappointment at the moment,” he said. “I am hurting as much as
anybody, believe me – and I say emphatically that we will battle
through. Building lasting success at Aston Villa is my focus and my
commitment to this challenge is resolute.” The Villains have to start
that against a Baggies side that have Odemwingie and Cameroonian
midfielder, Somen Tchoyi, in great scoring form. West Brom, after a
horrid November, has won two on the trot with Villa looking uneasily at
relegation. The Baggies have scored seven goals in their last two
matches, while Villa are just two points above the relegation zone on
the back of three successive league defeats.

West Brom’s James
Morrison is confident but not over confident. He said a derby does not
normally follow the form book; it is the side that desires victory more
on the day that normally wins. “We’re on a decent run and they haven’t
been at their best, but they’ve got some decent players and we’ll have
to be wary of them,” he said. “They’ll be looking to bounce back after
defeats. It’ll be a tough game. But we’re on a high, so it will be
interesting.” Houllier is banking on the return of Emile Heskey to add
some battling qualities that have been sorely missed especially against
Liverpool. “It’s not down to me, it’s down to other people to analyse
the minutes we’ve played with Emile – the goals he’s made, the goals
he’s scored, the ones he was involved in and you would see the
difference. Emile works hard for the team and we’ve missed him. But
Odemwingie added, “We are getting good results and we hope to finish
well at the end of the season.”

Obinna magic needed again

Some pundits have
suggested that City have the chance to mount a serious challenge for
top spot with their clutch of holiday fixtures. Today, against a
desperate West Ham, who prop up the table, they have to get the points
without inspirational captain and top scorer, Carlos Tevez. But Obinna
Nsofor has been showing good form over the last three matches, and
Avram Grant will be looking to the Nigerian international to provide
the goals and assists to help the Hammers move off the bottom of the
table in this home fixture. Nsofor provided three assists in the 4-0
hammering of Manchester United in the Carling Cup, and also provided an
assist and a goal in the 3-1 win over Wigan in their last league
victory. But time may totally run out for Grant if City beat his team
on Saturday.

Liverpool must consolidate against Newcastle

Following a very
comfortable 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Monday, the reds continue their
resurgence with a visit to St. James’ Park to visit a rudder-less
Newcastle, who have blown hot and cold this season. With rumours of a
player revolt against the management of the Magpies by senior players,
Roy Hodgson has the chance to snag another three points in pursuance of
the goal of finishing in one of the four Champions League places. Much
derided Brazilian midfielder, Lucas and new buy, Raul Meireles, have
the looking of a decent midfield partnership and Hodgson has come
openly to praise his Portuguese midfielder. “With Meireles it was
always just a question of time,” Hodgson said in a press conference.
“He came from a different league but I never doubted his quality as a
player. I’m sure we’ll get even more out of him now, with the more
games he plays as he settles more and more into life in England.”
Liverpool are just seven points from Manchester City in fourth, and
Hodgson believes it is possible to get into the top four by the end of
the season. “We’d like to think so,” he said on Liverpool’s ambition of
getting a Champions League place.

Bayern need to find some consistency

It has been a
season to forget for the Bavarian millionaires as they stumble from
high to low in a topsy turvy season. There have been calls to change
the manager from even within the club hierarchy. Louis Van Gaal has
been criticised for poor man management of players like Martin
Demichelis and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.