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With the series still alive, India might not want to tinker with their playing XI

The Preview by Karthik Krishnaswamy07-Dec-20192:57

Chahal all set to overtake Ashwin 

Big picture

West Indies seldom put all their best T20 stars on the park at the same time, so watching them between world tournaments is often an exercise in fantasy squad building. If this guy weren’t playing Global T20 Moldova, and if that other chap recovers from that knee injury…It’s also the reason why their performances since the 2016 World T20 – 12 wins, 26 losses – and even their more recent form – nine losses in their last ten games – feels less alarming than it looks. Sure, they have been losing a lot of games, but who’s going to bet against them when next year’s T20 World Cup rolls around?West Indies’ display in Hyderabad summed up the above. A line-up packed with power-hitters – but missing three or four other, equally gifted hitters – posted a big total, but their bowlers lost control of the game in dewy conditions, and India won with ease. West Indies lost, but the dormant-superpower narrative remained intact.ALSO READ: Kohli compiles an anger-fuelled masterclassLosses like that might turn into wins if West Indies can assemble their best squad more often, but it can also happen if their bowlers get their act together. India completed their chase of 208 in 18.4 overs, and while that’s 112 balls in theory, they actually got to face 123, thanks to all the wides and no-balls.There will probably be dew in Thiruvananthapuram too, and sweaty palms thanks to the muggy heat, so West Indies’ bowling discipline will once again come under the spotlight.India, meanwhile, have a long-term issue of their own to address – or sidestep, depending on how the toss goes. You probably already know this, but it’s worth reiterating: since the start of 2018, India have a 14-3 record while chasing, which becomes 8-7 when they bat first.They hunted down their biggest-ever T20I target on Friday, and did so with ease, but it’s still not certain that their batsmen know how to approach innings when they don’t have a required rate in mind. Thiruvananthapuram may or may not give us answers to that particular puzzle.

Form guide

India WWWLL (last five completed games, most recent first)
West Indies LLLWLYuzvendra Chahal needs one wicket to become India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is•BCCI

In the spotlight

Yuzvendra Chahal needs one wicket to go past R Ashwin and become India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is. The selectors left him out of India’s squads for the tour of the West Indies and the home series against South Africa, in order to try a few new options, but since his return, Chahal has reiterated his value in the shortest format. He bowls the difficult overs, uses his variations intelligently, reads batsmen’s intentions better than most spinners, and picks up key wickets – as he showed by dismissing Shimron Hetmyer and Kieron Pollard in the 18th over in Hyderabad, to help keep West Indies from posting an even bigger total.He took a beating at Virat Kohli’s hands in Hyderabad, and finished with the worst-ever T20I figures by a West Indies bowler, but Kesrick Williams knows that such days are part and parcel of a T20 bowler’s life. West Indies understand the value of his cutters and pace variations – among bowlers from Test-playing teams with a minimum of 20 wickets, he has the fourth-best strike rate of all time – and if the Thiruvananthapuram pitch offers a bit of grip, India might find him a little harder to put away.

Team news

India don’t usually tinker much when series are still alive, which means Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami might have to continue waiting their turn.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Yuzvendra ChahalNicholas Pooran will most likely return to West Indies’ line-up after serving his four-match ban for ball-tampering, and take the keeping gloves from Denesh Ramdin. Fabian Allen missed the first game with a knee injury, and it’s unclear if he’s recovered enough to play in Thiruvananthapuram.West Indies (probable): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Brandon King, 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Kieron Pollard (capt), 7 Jason Holder, 8 Khary Pierre, 9 Kesrick Williams, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Hayden Walsh

Pitch and conditions

The Greenfield International Stadium has only hosted two international games – an ODI and a rain-affected T20I – and slow turn was a feature of both games. The ground hosted 14 games during the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (India’s domestic T20 tournament), and spinners did well once again, averaging 20.85 and conceding 6.35 runs per over.The weather is likely to be hot and humid, with a slight chance of rain.

Stats and trivia

• Rohit Sharma (2547) and Virat Kohli (2544) are neck-and-neck at the top of the global T20I run charts.
• West Indies don’t have great memories of Thiruvananthapuram. They have played one game here, an ODI in November 2018, which they lost by nine wickets after being bowled out for 104.
• West Indies hit a lot of sixes, but not fours. Among the 12 Test-playing teams, they have the worst balls-per-four ratio (11.40) since the end of the 2016 World T20 – England lead the way at 8.04 – and the third-best balls-per-six ratio (15.85) behind New Zealand (13.96) and Afghanistan (14.64). India sit in the middle of the pack on both counts, with the sixth-best balls-per-six ratio (17.64) and the seventh-best balls-per-four figure (8.63)

The offspinner has never missed a Test through injury, but it would leave a massive headache if it did happen

Andrew McGlashan24-Oct-2019Shane Warne believes the lack of cover for Nathan Lyon as Australia’s Test spinner is a “real issue” and he has been disappointed with some states not selecting a frontline spinner in the early stages of the Sheffield Shield.While Australia would not want to lose Steven Smith or Pat Cummins to injury, the loss of Lyon could be an even bigger headache given the gap that has developed between him and the rest of the options available around the country.Australia did not select a second frontline spinner for the Ashes with Jon Holland, the Victoria left-arm bowler who was in the Australia A squad, not making the cut leaving Marnus Labuschagne’s improving legspin as the next spin-bowling resource.Labuschagne is a more-than-handy option for Tim Paine to have – as he showed with the ripping leg-break to remove Jack Leach late in the Old Trafford Test – but it would be a tall order for him to be thrust into a Test as the only spinner.It is not a problem Australia have had to confront with Lyon’s impressive durability meaning he has never missed a Test through injury during a 91-match career that has brought 363 wickets, but all it would take is a fielding mishap or blow in the nets to leave a significant problem.Holland probably remains the next in line, but he was left out of Victoria’s match against Western Australia in Perth, Ashton Agar might be a candidate while Queensland’s Mitch Swepson was the second-highest wicket-taker among spinners last season but has yet to play this summer.”Luckily we have such a quality spinner in Lyon, he’s done so well in all conditions around the world, held that attack together, but if something happened to him it would be a real issue,” Warne said at Fox Cricket’s season launch. “It’s important for Australia – I’m not saying Lyon is retiring or anything, he’s got a lot more in him – that if something does happen for Australia that someone could set up.”Only four spinners other than Lyon took more than 10 wickets in the Sheffield Shield last season: South Australia’s Tom Andrews (12 at 14.50), Steve O’Keefe (20 at 27.95), Swepson (24 at 38.16) and Holland (26 at 28.15). In the first two rounds of this season’s tournament, just 18 wickets have fallen to spin. That, perhaps, is partly mitigated by there being two matches at the WACA and the Gabba but Warne said that room should be made for a frontline spinner regardless of conditions for the benefit of Australian cricket.”They should always pick a spinner, it’s disappointing if sides are not picking spinners regardless of conditions we should be encouraging spinners in all forms because they’ll learn how to bowl in different conditions. The job of Sheffield Shield sides is to make sure you are producing international cricketers, it’s not just looking after your own state. You have to make sure Australian cricket is strong and they should be picking spinners.”In terms of Australia’s side for the opening Test against Pakistan next month, Warne endorsed bringing Usman Khawaja back to open alongside David Warner and introducing Will Pucovski at No. 6. “I think it’s time we picked a good, young player in there, bit like the old Australian way. Put him in at No. 6 and he can work his way up,” he said.

Solidity against pace during the 181-run opening partnership helped Rajasthan gain the advantage on the opening day of the semi-final, Aakash Chopra, their opener, has said

Siddhartha Talya 03-Jan-2011Solidity against pace during an 181-run opening partnership and positive batting against spin to up the scoring rate helped Rajasthan gain the advantage on the opening day of the semi-final, Aakash Chopra, their opener, has said. Chopra batted determinedly to make an unbeaten 115 in conditions that offered plenty of assistance to the Tamil Nadu bowlers, and was well supported by Vineet Saxena as Rajasthan finished the day on 236 for 1.”We were not surprised when we were put in to bat, but we applied ourselves well,” Chopra told ESPNcricinfo. “We had a huge opening partnership and that really deflates the opposition. Once we got settled in, we tried to just continue for as long as possible.”In overcast conditions at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, with moisture on the pitch, there was swing and movement on offer for Tamil Nadu’s four-pronged pace attack. “L Balaji bowled very well, he bowled in the right areas consistently. So did C Ganapathy to start with. They bowled tightly and in the right areas, and both were quite effective. It’s just that they couldn’t really get a breakthrough and that’s what put us on the front foot. But there wasn’t a dull moment when the fast bowlers were on.”And it wasn’t just the movement. The ball wasn’t really coming on to the bat and it got better once the day progressed.”The good bounce in the pitch as well as the movement on offer meant Chopra had to be very conservative in his shot selection. He left a number of balls bowled in the channel outside off. “When the bounce is good and the ball is carrying to the keeper, you need to be very sure about where your off stump is. That’s what happens when you are batting well.”The seamers shared 59 overs today and conceded runs at just above two an over. The circumspect approach against the seamers had to be compensated with a bit of aggression against the slow bowlers. The Rajasthan openers targeted Suresh Kumar, who went for 81 in 21 overs.”On a track like this, you need to score runs against the spinners. That’s because the fast bowlers are not going to give you anything. There wasn’t much in the track for the spinners today. So that was the reason why we tried to up the ante against their only offspinner, and were successful.”Chopra praised his opening partner Saxena, whose 72 followed up a decisive century against Mumbai in the quarter-final. “He’s batted well throughout this season. He is someone who provides solidity at the top, his batting suits the longer format of the game, he’ll leave the ball, he knows his strengths and he sticks to them.”Rajasthan qualified for the semi-final based on a first-innings lead against Mumbai, and Chopra said batting big was the way to go in the ongoing contest. “We need to be very cautious to start with, the second new ball is only a few overs old. We’ll need to see off the first hour, or hour-and-a-half. We need to bat for as long as possible and put them under pressure.”Rajasthan captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar sustained an injury when he was struck on the pads off an inside edge and had to retire hurt, but Chopra was confident he would be able to bat on the second day.

A round-up of the Under-19 World Cup matches that took place on January 28, 2020

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2020
ScorecardSixteen-year old Emannuel Bawa must have had one of the sweetest experiences of his career on Tuesday. To score a century from No. 7 – with the team in deep trouble at 54 for 5 – and for it to end up match-winning too had to make him feel like he was on top of the world.Zimbabwe, at one point, were in very real danger of going down to Canada in Potchefstroom, but their lower-middle order showed great steel. The No. 5 Taurayi Tugwete hit a 50 off 75 balls and even the No. 9 Gareth Chirawu wouldn’t give his wicket away cheaply, cracking 54 unbeaten runs off only 45 deliveries. Bawa, though, was the star of the show, arriving to the crease in the 16th over and remaining unbeaten, with 13 fours and a strike-rate of 110.Canada suffered a similar batting malfunction, slumping to 69 for 5 in the 21st over, but they could find no one to rescue their innings as Chirawu, Sakhumuzi Ndlela and Nkosilathi Nungu picked up two wickets each.Uzzair Shah flicks•ICC via Getty

ScorecardOsama Hassan produced a fine half-century from the lower order for UAE but his 81 off 68 balls did little to prevent defeat in the fourth quarter-final of the plate group in the Under-19 World Cup. Scotland cruised to victory with seven wickets to spare thanks to opener Uzzair Shah’s nearly run-a-ball 71 and wicketkeeper Tomas Mackintosh’s better than run-a-ball 57.UAE began the game in decent position. They were 129 for 3 in the 30th over after being put in to bat, eying up a strong total. But Daniel Cairns’ offspin triggered a middle-overs collapse where they lost four wickets for 35 runs. Hassan continued to fight though, hitting seven fours and a six during the course of his innings and was the last man out in the 49th over.Shah took centre stage after that, helping Scotland wallop 176 runs by the 27th over before he was finally dismissed, by which time the contest was pretty much done.

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval

Peter English01-Dec-2010

Match Facts

Kevin Pietersen was just starting to purr when he was dismissed in Brisbane•Getty Images

December 3, Adelaide

Start time 10:30 (00:00 GMT)

The Big Picture

England fought back to show character and ended up controlling the first Test, but they must build on their hard-won momentum to deliver more pain to the ailing hosts. Andrew Strauss already holds the urn so he has an important advantage in what has turned into a four-game shootout. The equation is simple: Australia must win more games than England to reclaim the Ashes.Given the state of the sides, a local victory will be hard work in Adelaide. The back-to-back games mean both outfits will have some weary men, and the bowlers face another back-breaking week on a surface that feels like paradise for the batsmen. At the end of the Gabba Test, Ricky Ponting couldn’t help but laugh at England’s second innings, which finished at 1 for 517. There wasn’t much else he could do after watching his bowlers provide fodder for Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott.It is extremely unusual for the hosts to be under such heavy scrutiny so early in a home campaign, but they must discover some sustained form to win some relief. Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris, the fast bowlers, have been included in the 13-man squad and have been trying to impress in the nets this week. The batting remains unchanged but once again this is an important game for Marcus North, the hit-and-miss batsman, and part-time spinner.The game here four years ago is still remembered as a nightmare or a magical dream, depending on your allegiance. England entered the final day at 1 for 59, with a lead of 97 and a chance to push for victory. Instead they were rolled by Shane Warne for 129 and Australia sped to a six-wicket victory. England never recovered and the result changed the series.

Form guide

(most recent first)
Australia DLLLW
England DWLWW

Watch out for…

Ricky Ponting was relieved when he was able to leave the Gabba with an unbeaten half-century on Monday. He did enough to show some much-needed form in the Test arena and convince himself he’s on target for a huge score. As Australia showed in the first game, they need their captain to fire, and will hope he does it on a ground he loves. Ponting is the leading scorer in Adelaide with 1433 runs, including five centuries and a high of 242, in 14 Tests.

Like Ponting, Kevin Pietersen produced a bright start in Brisbane, with 43 when the conditions were at their toughest on the opening day. Just as he was starting to shine brightly he pushed at Peter Siddle and edged to second slip. Pietersen is desperate for a big contribution and will start at Adelaide sans moustache, which makes him look hungry for runs instead of 1970s fun. The arena is Pietersen’s favourite – although that might have changed slightly after his rain rant yesterday – but he has mixed memories from four years ago. He conquered Warne in the first innings with 158, but was bowled trying to sweep on that fateful final day in 2006-07.

Team news

Australia’s bowlers are the most nervous groups of players in the country and Mitchell Johnson has already had his card marked unfavourably. Ponting has confirmed Johnson has been dropped from the side after his ineffective performance at the Gabba, with Ryan Harris and Doug Bollinger vying for his place. With a gap of only three days between Tests, the fresh men could provide a huge boost for the already weary side. Expect Bollinger to come in for Johnson, which lengthens Australia’s tail, while Ben Hilfenhaus also struggled at the Gabba and will be under pressure from Harris.Australia (probable) 1 Simon Katich, 2 Shane Watson, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Marcus North, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Xavier Doherty, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Doug Bollinger.England’s bowlers also found the Gabba pitch tough work but only injury will force them into a change. Steven Finn showed he could extract some extra bounce out of lifeless surfaces, while Stuart Broad and James Anderson also had bright patches. The key for England is to get something out of their highly-rated spinner Graeme Swann, who struggled in the opening game.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn.

Pitch and conditions

This will be the first Test in charge for the curator Damian Hough, who has replaced Les Burdett after his four decades at the ground. Hough expects a traditional Adelaide wicket, which means lots of runs and some unpredictable bounce late in the game. “Every year we have been able to produce a sporting pitch,” Hough said. “There have been eight results in the last 10 years so I think the characteristics haven’t changed.” The forecast for the opening day is mostly fine, with a top temperature of 30C, while Saturday’s maximum is expected to be 35C.

Stats and trivia

• The last time Australia drew at the Gabba, they followed up with a four-wicket defeat in Adelaide. That was against India in 2003-04. England last drew the opening Test of an Ashes tour in 1998-99, which they followed with losses in Perth and Adelaide
• After last week’s run-fest, when Cook became the highest scorer at the Gabba with his 235, the players will have to do a lot better to beat the ground’s high mark. Don Bradman’s 299 is the top score, while England’s best is Paul Collingwood’s 206 four years ago
• Two players involved in the match will start it with batting averages of more than 200 at the venue. Brad Haddin’s mean is 245 in two Tests, while Collingwood’s is 228 after one match.
• Australia have won 16 of 29 Tests against England at Adelaide, while the visitors have succeeded on eight occasions. Their last victory there came in 1994-95, when Devon Malcolm and Chris Lewis bowled the hosts out for 156 in the final innings.
• Only four of the specialist bowlers in both squads have played Tests in Adelaide. Johnson has played there three times, while Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger and James Anderson have played there once.

Quotes

“The bottom line is we’ve got to find 20 wickets in the game and we’ve got to pick the bowlers who we think are best equipped, skill-based wise and physically, to get that job done.”

The new selection panel also picked left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican and top-order batsman Sunil Ambris

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2019The newly-picked West Indies selection panel has dropped Darren Bravo for the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan in India next month. With Shannon Gabriel injured, his place was taken by fast bowler Alzarri Joseph who proved his fitness in the CPL recently.

Changes to West Indies’ Test squad

IN: Alzarri Joseph, Shane Dowrich, Sunil Ambris, Jomel Warrican
OUT: Darren Bravo, Shannon Gabriel, Jahmar Hamilton

Shai Hope, who had sustained a finger injury during the Tests against India, was picked too – including in the ODI squad – having proved his fitness in Barbados Tridents’ run to the CPL title.Bravo was dropped after managing a mere 47 runs in four innings at an average of 15.66 against India. His form hardly improved in the CPL thereafter, with 128 runs in seven innings, striking at 103.22, and only one half-century. Gabriel’s recent form against India wasn’t impressive either. He claimed just four wickets in the two Tests and averaged as much as 56.50 with a strike rate of 99. He then went to the UK last month to play county cricket for Gloucestershire, and took only two wickets in three innings there, with figures of 0 for 39, 2 for 20 and 0 for 121.Wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton, who made his Test debut in the second game against India, was also left out of the Test squad. He got the chance against India after injuries to both Hope and Shane Dowrich, but with both fit to travel to India, there was no place for Hamilton this time.Joseph, who returned to the CPL after an injury layoff, was picked for all three formats. He is yet to make his T20 international debut. He had injured his right arm while playing for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL in April and returned to the field after nearly five months to represent St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the CPL recently. He played nine matches to pick as many wickets and ended with an impressive economy rate of 7.75.Apart from Joseph’s return, the selectors picked left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican and top-order batsman Sunil Ambris. Both Warrican and Ambris last played a Test in November 2018 against Bangladesh. While Ambris struck some form against India A recently in both four-day matches and one-dayers, Warricon impressed more while playing for Barbados in the domestic first-class competition at the beginning of the year.The lone Test will be played after the T20Is and ODIs, starting November 27 in Dehradun.Test squad: Jason Holder (capt), Shai Hope, John Campbell, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shimron Hetmyer, Shamrah Brooks, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Sunil Ambris, Jomel Warrican, Rahkeem Cornwall, Kemar Roach, Keemo Paul, Alzarri Joseph

Despite earning a superb 1-1 draw against the reigning Premier League champions on Monday, there was one man who failed to impress for Leeds: Helder Costa.

The Portugal international was given the nod to start against Liverpool with Raphinha being out injured, and while those are some big boots to fill, he certainly didn’t show anything to Marcelo Bielsa that would warrant him keeping his place against Manchester United this coming weekend.

As per Sofascore, he missed one official big chance, failed to provide any accurate crosses, and managed just 12 successful passes in total – by and large, the game just seemed to pass the winger by.

Writing in his post-match player ratings, Leeds Live’s Beren Cross gave him a five, saying: “Never really figured as an option at any stage in attack for Leeds and was left for dead far too often by Andrew Robertson going in the other direction.”

Such was Costa’s ineffectiveness, that Bielsa took him off on the 67 minute mark, choosing to bring on the largely unseen Ian Poveda,

And, following his performance, former Leeds man Noel Whelan tore into the winger, even going so far as to saying that he’s simply been a “massive flop” for the price that they paid for him.

He said: “The one player that disappointed me was Helder Costa. Once again he was poor. There is something there that is not right because Poveda came on and did more in that short time than Costa did in the 60 minutes he was on the field.

“He is fourth in the pecking order in terms of wingers for me. Poveda has to come before him now. He is direct, exciting and wants to take people on. He wants to do his job as a winger and Costa does not. He plays it safe and he’s negative. For a player that cost £16m, I need to see a hell of a lot more from him.

“At least Poveda runs at people. He is positive and that is what a winger should do. Costa has been a massive flop. A real disappointment again.”

The winger has failed to score in his last seven Premier League appearances, and it’s been no real surprise that Bielsa doesn’t seem to trust him fully – he’s completed the full 90 minutes just once in the top-flight since November 2, and has either been hooked early or brought on as a very late substitute.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Latest Leeds transfer rumours and news”]

With another clash against one of the Premier League’s big boys to come against United on Sunday, Bielsa has simply got to make a ruthless call on the £70k-a-week earning Costa and drop him from the starting line-up.

Meanwhile, Leeds should land this “exceptional” English striker…

Yerry Mina was forced off just before the hour mark in Everton’s goalless draw with Brighton on Monday night.

Mina looked to have sustained a muscle injury after stretching to make a challenge and was replaced by Alex Iwobi.

Asked about the issue after the game, Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti predicted that Mina would be out for two to three weeks.

Which games could Mina miss?

Ancelotti stressed that he is ‘not a doctor’, so couldn’t be sure at this early stage, but was certain that the Colombian international will not be fit for the visit of Spurs on Friday night.

Were to be ruled out for three weeks, he would also miss the games against Arsenal and Aston Villa.

The £18m-rated defender has started 20 of Everton’s 30 Premier League matches up to this point (via Transfermarkt), so that is a blow.

Elsewhere the news may be picking up though – top scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin, first-choice goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and midfielder Allan are all expected to be back available for the Tottenham clash.

Here’s how fans reacted to the Mina news, passed on by the club’s official account, as one supporter called it ‘shock’ news while others joked they want the season to end now…

Everton fans lament latest injury setback

“Let’s just wrap up and come back next season….. this season is wrecking my head!!”

Credit: @BH_Design

“Shock”

Credit: @vicaz22

“We’re cursed”

Credit: @pwefc1

“He’ll be out all season. We’re everton”

Credit: @Stu1766645

“wow.”

Credit: @joeevertonleary

“This club”

Credit: @JstinR7

“Make it stop”

@shenandoahterp

In other news, Everton fans flocked to this exciting footage.

Plenty of Aston Villa fans have been having their say on the club’s confirmed fixture changes for May on social media.

Two fixtures involving Villa have been rescheduled due to broadcast rights, with the club confirming the alterations on their official Twitter page on Wednesday afternoon.

Dean Smith’s side will now take on Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday, May 1 at 8pm, with the game available to watch on BT Sport.

Villa’s next fixture against Manchester United will take place eight days later on Sunday, May 9 at 2:05pm, broadcast live on Sky Sports.

Villa’s home clash against Everton is still yet to be rescheduled after being postponed back in January due to health protocol issues at Villa Park.

Villa fans react

This is what these fans had to say to the club’s tweet about the fixture changes, with a few left wondering about the reverse fixture against the Toffees.

“Schedule the second Everton game please it’s doing my head in”

Credit: @ReubenOwen_

“Please stop moving fixtures to a Saturday night when I can’t watch them”

Credit: @FootballJustFoo

“Everton double header”

Credit: @smithy1874

“I like how serious they look about the fixture change.”

Credit: @Elliot_CB

“right so what about the other Everton game”

Credit: @catrinedwards18

“How about a home match with Everton?”

Credit: @AVfc_PL

In other news: Many AVFC fans share love for Christian Purslow’s European Super League comments, find out more here. 

Ralph Hasenhuttl has revealed both Danny Ings and Ryan Bertrand will be missing from their match against Leicester City on Friday.

Hasenhuttl shares double injury blow

The Saints face the Foxes as they look to pull further away from the relegation zone.

Speaking to the press ahead of the game, Hasenhuttl provided a damaging injury update. He said (via Hampshire Live):

“Danny Ings and Ryan Bertrand are out, they are not training at the moment.

“Ingsy’s injury is not as bad as it looked at first but he will still miss some games, we hope he will come back for the last games.

“We need every player with five games in a few weeks at the end of the season.”

Uphill battle

Even with a fully fit squad, this would have been an uphill battle for the Saints. Leicester are currently third in the Premier League and are within touching distance of securing their place in the Champions League for next season. The last time these two sides met at St. Mary’s Stadium, Leicester won 9-0, so Hasenhuttl will be fully aware of the threat they possess.

Without Ings and Bertrand, Southampton’s task is even harder. The former has managed 10 goals in 25 league matches so far this term and has bagged 44 in 96 games since joining the club (Transfermarkt). Bertrand, meanwhile, has been a stalwart for the Saints down the years, making over 200 appearances since joining from Chelsea – in his case, Hasenhuttl’s main issue is the lack of natural cover. It remains to be seen whether they can rise to the occasion without two players of such importance.

In other news, Southampton have been dealt with transfer blow.