Aston Villa Must Keep The Momentum Going

Aston Villa have now won an incredible 10 games on the spin, and will be looking to push that tally further this weekend (I hope).

Last weekend’s win over Millwall see the lads of Aston Villa safely into the EFL Championship Playoffs. Whether that’s as the 6th place, 5th place, or 4th place qualifier remains to be seen.

The team would finish 6th if: 

They lose to Leeds United and Norwich -AND- Derby County defeat Bristol, Swansea, and West Brom. This could also theoretically happen if Aston Villa lose both matches and Bristol defeat Derby County, Millwall, and Hull City by considerable margins. The latter is not likely to happen.

The team would finish 4th if: 

They defeat Leeds and Norwich, while West Brom manage only 3 points from their remaining fixtures against Rotherham and Derby. (Note: there are a variety of other permutations that would see the team 4th, but this is the most direct, and probably the most likely)

It is likely that any amount of points between 1 and 5 would see Aston Villa finish in 5th place, where a first round visit with local rivals West Bromwich Albion would await.

Regardless of where the team might finish, there is one thing that needs to happen:

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Keep the momentum rolling.

We saw what happened with Fulham last season. They went on an incredible run at the turn of the year, and went all-out until the final whistle of the regular season. They had a bit of a hangover going into the playoffs on account of missing out on automatic promotion, but Villa shouldn’t have to worry about that.

Aston Villa have a secure playoff spot, and are playing a team that might be on a bit of a hangover (Leeds), and one that in theory, could’ve won the league by the time the match is on (Norwich).

Dean Smith has given no indication that he will rest players before the playoffs, (other than perhaps John McGinn) and seems to be going with the “foot-on-the-gas” approach.

Why shouldn’t he? The formula worked for Fulham last season, and I don’t need to remind you what happened there…

Let’s cheer on our lads as they see this thing through. UTV