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Though I like Gouffran upfront, having Murphy there would unsettle their defence if we can the crosses in.

They're do it on a week by week basis due to FA Cup and other clashes now. That Leeds game hasn't been decided but fully expect it to be on Tv though.

For Sky and the rest of the league, yes it is the biggest game of the season. For us, in the context of chasing promotion, no this isn't the game of the season. Saturday against Huddersfield is much important that tonight. We could pass Brighton on another day but we can't afford Huddersfield to close the gap.

Hoping he's just being left out to ensure he can play the next 2 games. More important those than this 1 game.

Avoid defeat would be my priority. We've got another 2 games coming up and for me, Huddersfield is the must-win game out of the 3. Would not want to go into that game after a bumming here. Confidence will be low. Likewise, a big win would just make the players complacent and over-confident and they'll crash back down to earth. They should go into this game with a 'get the job done' mentality and that job should be to avoid defeat. We'll have plenty of other chances to overtake them again and they might slip up again but this game isn't a priority to beat them.

At this moment, I don't mind finishing second instead of first.

Brighton's experience staying at the top of the pile or thereabout has shown all season. Definitely the best team in the league.

If true, I'd rather keep him for Huddersfield and Reading.

Time for Mitro, Murphy and Ayoze to step up now. Personally, I think Murphy is a better finisher than the other two and maybe we should have him playing in those 3 big games as we might have fewer chances to score in those games. Don't want Mitro or Ayoze squandering them. But I do admire Mitro's hold up and linking play. There was no guarantees we would win those 3 games even with Gayle. Having him back for the run-in against sides we're expected to beat is still ok if it meant he'd stay fit for the rest of the season.

The only manager to beat Rafa Benitez...twice. He should put it in his CV.

Hope that's the last we come across each other for a while. The supposed rivalry and banter is just weird with Villa.

Did the PA make a meal out of it? I didn't think so. It was an OG and the crowd loved it. Think it's that Villa fan who's being petty there.

Finally a win on Monday night football!

Glad that we didn't have to over-exert ourselves in that second half. Perez will start Saturday with Mitro I think.

I switch to the Sutton game and fuck Pardew pops up. Fucking cunt!

Mitro looks up for this. Think his strength and power could be useful today.

Knew this would happen

The lack of intensity in our play is absolutely pathetic.

Really hope we can get away from Huddersfield with these 2 home games. Would rather have a guaranteed lead over them than having games in hand like they'll have after this.

Last game of the season, all played on the same day at the same time even if picked for Tv. So it'll be on the Sunday with a noon kickoff (refer .com for that info)

Blackburn away. Shef wednesday home was also Monday night albeit Boxing Day.

I must admit I do get excited when we're at home on a Monday night live on Sky. There's just that something special for me about playing Monday night on Sky under the SJP lights, especially when they show aerial shots of SJP. Could probably trace it to that 'Cantona' game back in March 96. What an atmosphere that was. The hype for the game was unbelivable and we played fantastically that first half. Another Monday night home game that sticks to my mind was our first game of the season where we played West Ham and hammered them 4-0. Shearer scored and Viana made his debut I think. Just hope tonight with a great atmosphere, we can hand out a good beating to these c***s and sing a nice song for Brucey at the end too. Our last 2 home games on Sky have been shocking though.

Having a laugh with their pre-match thread. Hoping we hammer them to get kebab-loving Bruce to go https://www.villatalk.com/topic/16169-prematch-thread/

Villa fans wanting us to hammer them so that Bruce will be gone. They sound like us when we wanted Pardew out https://www.villatalk.com/topic/16169-prematch-thread/

What is the biggest lead we've had over the third placed team over the course of this season? Think it was around 9-12 points. Now its down to 6. Hopefully we'll pull away from Huddersfield while they're occupied with the FA Cup. Would rather have healthy gaps between us and whoever is in third than having games in hand.