:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/6159751/159001548.0.jpg)
We are now well into silly season, the time when transfer rumors can get floated on the flimsiest of information. Did you hear that Leo Messi plays football? Aston Villa are a football team who need football players. IS LEO MESSI HEADED FOR ASTON VILLA?
No. No he is not. During the month of January though, we'll work to keep you as up-to-date on the latest transfer rumors as we can. We'll also try our best to help you figure out which rumors make sense and which are a bunch of hot air. Setting the Table will have a round up of transfer rumors every Monday, so if you've missed anything, make sure to check here. Let's get to it!
Just The Facts, Please
| Position | W | D | L | GD | Pts | |
| Aston Villa | 16th | 4 | 7 | 10 | -24 | 19 |
Form (Last 5): W L L L D
Results Last Week: Swansea City 2-2 Aston Villa (EPL); Aston Villa 2-1 Ipswich Town (FA Cup)
Upcoming Fixtures:
- First Team:
at Bradford City (League Cup Semifinals) - Tuesday, January 9, 1945 GMT, 1445 Eastern
Southampton (EPL) - Saturday, January 12, 1500 GMT, 1000 Eastern
Injuries
New Injuries Last Week:
- Marc Albrighton - Removed from Ipswich match in first half
Transfer Rumor Roundup
- Before I get to any of this, if you want a convenient place to look all week, make sure to bookmark our transfer rumor hub. Every new story we put up with any transfer news in it will be there, from now until forever. You'll find no better amalgamation of our transfer coverage.
- Now, let's do this in chronological order:
- Aston Villa have shown some interest in Frederick Sørenson, a 20-year old central defender currently playing for Bologna. He seems to fit well into the youth campaign that Paul Lambert has begun. There hasn't been much on this since the initial rumor.
- The club were briefly rumored to be interested in Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott. Not surprisingly - given Lambert's transfer tendencies - however, it seems those rumors were incorrect. Villa do need a defender, but I doubt we'll see a significant name like Lescott as the player that comes in.
- In a bit of gossip that very well may be recycled from the summer transfer window, Villa have been linked to Charlton Athletic midfielder Dale Stephens.
- Villa have also been rumored to be interested in Moussa Sissoko, a 23-year-old midfielder currently playing for Ligue 1 side Toulouse. Aaron, for one, certainly loves the idea. I think it'd be a stretch for Villa to land the player, but it sure would be great.
- Finally, there are rumors of interest in Lazio defender Luis Cavanda, a young Belgian who would make a lot of sense with the club.
- Alan Hutton has been sent away by Alex McLeish at Nottingham Forest. The defender's loan expired and McLeish wanted nothing else to do with Hutton. So he's ours again. Yay?
The Week That Was
- Just wanted to quickly note that Aaron wrote two really fantastic opinion pieces this week.
- The first addressed the "Lack of experience" narrative that seems to be creeping into Aston Villa commentary everywhere.
- The second noted that yes, Aston Villa are bad at scoring, but no, it's not exclusively the fault of the strikers.
Match Notes
Swansea 2-2 Aston Villa (EPL)
Wayne Routledge (9'), Andreas Weimann (44'), Christian Benteke (PEN, 84'), Danny Graham (90 + 4')
- I didn't get to see this live or anything, but boy the text alerts were heartbreaking.
- You can find our recap here.
- The WhoScored recap is here.
Aston Villa 2-1 Ipswich Town (FA Cup Third Round)
Michael Chopra (31'), Darren Bent (46'), Andreas Weimann (83')
- I didn't get to see this one, either. But that's okay, you probably didn't get to either. We all had to rely on Jack Woodward. Which, you know. Delightful.
- Aston Villa certainly weren't dominant, but the offense seemed to come more to life once Andreas Weimann came on the pitch. I'm starting to think that he - and of course Christian Benteke - may be the future for Aston Villa. The two of them are really fantastic.
- Darren Bent didn't do poorly either, scoring a goal and having a few crosses (!) just miss being converted. That's a good sign. Either it means we've still got an effective striker on the bench or it means that he added value to himself for a potential transfer.
- You can find our recap here.
- Highlight of that recap? "Eric Lichaj is just not good at football. Sorry." Preach, Kirsten. Preach.
Looking Ahead
- Villa continue a run of eight matches in the month of January. But that's misleading. Between December 23 and February 23, the club will play 14 matches. Good heavens that's a rough schedule.
- Yes, Villa do take on Southampton in EPL play on Saturday, but I think almost every fan would agree that the week's most important match in the away leg of the League Cup semifinals. If Villa can continue their nearly inexplicable (given their league statistics) run of goals in the cup, they'd put themselves into a great position to wrap up a trip to Wembley. Win on the road, and the home leg will be much less stressful.
- And yes, we get Southampton at Villa Park. It's a chance to avenge the 4-1 loss earlier in the season. I hope this will be an easy match, but that's what I hoped before that one too.
Last Thoughts
Stick around this week as we'll keep you up-to-date on all of the matches and every bit of transfer news. Thanks, as always, for reading!