Elma

I try not to criticise refs but tonight's is such a homer. The pen calls were pretty much solely on VAR (he could have been a man and stood up to VAR on theirs) but that Elanga booking was hideous.

Didn't think it possible but this ref is worse than the last one we had there.

Hall lost it in midfield. Tried to bring it down in too tight an area.

Very happy with that team. Expected 8-16 at the outset and we've got that. Tonight very much a free hit against the European champions. Nothing to lose. Am not even feeling nervous. A point won't make much difference but would be a great result on the night. A win completely unexpected but would be amazing. Glad to see Bruno fit enough for the bench but am hoping we don't need him. May as well get some minutes into Burn, Elanga and Ramsey and try something slightly different.

Ooh that's funny.

They seem a different team without Xhaka. On one level I think he would have been a cracking short-term signing for us, with Tonali's downturn in form, Joe's injury issues, and to save Bruno from having to play every minute this season. However, the progress of Elliot Anderson at Forest once he got regular game time, suggests that although it might have got us a few more points on the board in the short term, it could have be counter-productive longer term with regard to Miley's development. As it happens he's got minutes out of position anyway with the defensive injury crisis. Ideally Eddie would be able to utilise an extra body and still get solid development minutes into Miley, but I'm not convinced he would.

Very true - they've done us badly twice though, albeit away.

Villa looking decent at Fener. Playing some nice, quick, forward passes between lines. I always worry when playing them as Emery is an elite coach. Two weakened midfields will be interesting. Am hoping the extra rest time will be critical.

Their game finishes around 22:45 local time and they're not due back into Birmingham until just before 2am Friday morning.

The goals at Brighton and Everton were quality finishes and he has that in his locker. Looks to have zero confidence at the moment though. Glad Wissa is hitting his stride to give him time.

Very true, but can any Premier League club beat Joe Kinnear, Steve Bruce, Steve McClaren and John Carver?

Maybe they've got twitchy feet over all the VAR bashing this week and are trying to make sure it's clear and obvious only. His own player coming in from his right might have given him a bit of a nudge too. Beyond that, don't know.

What a save, Sels.

Sounds pretty quiet at Forest. Poor game so far.

That Pino goal was a tremendous finish.

2-0

I'm irrationally annoyed today by all the people who didn't understand the offside call last night, many of them in the game. 😂 There are some who didn't see that Thiaw was furthest back towards the goal (Pat Nevin was one on BBC), others that said Thiaw and Haaland were grappling each other so that's fine (Henry Winter was one), and a group that said Haaland wasn't impeding Pope, so it's fine - completely ignoring Thiaw. Journalists and ex-pros - seriously man. The only thing they can complain about is the time it took.

According to Google it can take up to an hour post-match due to processing.

I don't think we won a competitive one (I was at Ibrox when we beat Man U in one in a pre-season friendly) until I was in my forties. Penalty shootout wins are like buses now.

To be fair, probably the hardest shot I've seen (after Tonali) in the current squad is Murphy. His goal at Chelsea away (3-2 defeat) absolutely flew in, and he's had a couple of others (Ipswich away?). Hes definitely got it in his locker.

Isn't this on ITV as well?

At least it's a hammy and not his knee - it's easy to get muscle injuries after you've been out a while so understandable. Comes due to having to play too many minutes when not fully fit due to the schedule.

Very much so, but once we had gone to pens at least we won them. Would have been worse going that far and getting knocked out anyway I guess.

Talksport (I know) reporting that Man City are lining him up in the summer and he's showing no interest in signing a new contract.

Fair point