We will head into the playoffs off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Millwall. It was dead rubber game and Steve Bruce rotated his team for the match, but it’s nonetheless a slightly disappointing end to the regular season.
The first leg against Middlesbrough on Saturday is going to be a tight contest, with not much between the two teams.
Fans on Twiter believe we are very capable of getting a win against our playoff opponents, but just as equally likely to put in a poor performance:
https://twitter.com/ShelleyOzzy/status/993384584623599616
We are capable of turning all of them over and we are capable of imploding and crashing out against any of them. Just the Villa way i guess!
— Chrsmo (@Chrsmo) May 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/MrWazzman/status/993391266611257349
https://twitter.com/tweetingolfer/status/993394968327794688
It’s not good news that Fulham are in the mix. Much more confident of beating Mboro/Cardiff/Derby than Fulham. We will have to be playing like we did against Wolves and Bristol City to bear them. Anything less and we are staying in ch’ship
— Max Daly (@Narcomania) May 7, 2018
Steve Bruce is what will go wrong. He will be absolutely terrified of Boro
— James Speirs (@JamesSpeirs15) May 7, 2018
I am so nervous , don’t now if I can watch it!!!
— Marilyn Wall (@MAWallLanzarote) May 7, 2018
We can definitely beat those teams but we can easily lose to them all just the same what Villa is going to turn up is the problem inconsistency at key times has been the problem let’s hope we find that form and keep our nerve 🦁
— Moorski ⚽️ (@Moorski7) May 7, 2018
Our boom or bust runs underly a worrying problem of inconsistency. Selection will be key, (again cause for concern), but its going to be exciting. Fans always play their part so let's just roll those 🎲🎲🎲 and 🙏 the real AVFC team turn up. #utv
— Stuart Reed (@Stuart_Reed) May 7, 2018
we can but the fear comes in cos we know on our day we can also lose to anybody too
— Ash (@starbuck19777) May 7, 2018
Verdict:
It’s important not to get too far ahead of ourselves. If we just look towards the Middlesbrough game, I can see there just being a goal in it over the two legs.
Tony Pulis’s first game as Boro manager was a 1-0 defeat against us at the end of last year, but a lot has changed since then. Still, it’s fair to say our opponents pride themselves on their defensive record, and I can’t see a high score in either leg, to be honest with you.
