Morning all. I had some good news yesterday so took the opportunity to have a beer or two and I gotta tell you, I've found the secret to having a few beers and feeling great the next day; don't drink beer in your own private race.
But, how I feel is of no interest to you, what interests you is the fact we are playing Manchester United today at Old Trafford and well, some will say this is the best time to be playing United, and they might very well be right, but I don't think so.
However, last season we scored twice and we had three more shots on target so maybe this time round we can have a few more and maybe, because they are weaker defensively, we'll score more because we'll have better opportunities or more time. Problem is with Manchester United, it really isn't about scoring, it's about stopping them from scoring.
It isn't about scoring against Manchester United, it is about stopping the likes of Rooney and Berbatov and if we can do that, we do stand a chance.
Pre-Match Banter
Martin O'Neill
We are going there with plenty of confidence because we are playing well at this minute and it is up to us to try and push on. There will be no mental block about going to Old Trafford.
Football Betting
We can't have a post without a look at the odds at PaddyPower. You'll get 6/1 for an Aston Villa win today and if you are feeling confident then all you have to do is click here to make a bet. I won't be, I'll be having some of the 3/1 for a draw.
Aston Villa Links
We have a links page if you want to have a look, but please, if you find links today that might interest us, drop them in the comments below. This is a good link if you want to watch the game today. Don't sign up three minutes before kick off and then come on here asking for help to get it to work, it has nothing to do with us and they do have pretty good instructions on the site.
Team news and updates coming later. Twitter updates all day and I'm hoping for a bit of banter with so many other matches kicking off before us today.
Team NEws
O'Neill isn't making any changes from the team that beat Hull.
Friedel, Young, Cueller, Dunne, Warnock, Young, Downing, Milner, Petrov, Heskey and Gabby.