Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
Gabriel Agbonlahor and West Ham’s Robert Snodgrass applaud Aston Villa star
Gabriel Agbonlahor and West Ham United attacker Robert Snodgrass have applauded Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane on Instagram, after Villa beat West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Villa have given themselves a narrow advantage with a 2-1 win over the Baggies at Villa Park. West Brom took the lead after an awful mistake from Glenn Whelan allowed Dwight Gayle to score.
But the introduction of Hourihane, replacing fellow countryman Whelan, completely changed the game. The Ireland international lashed home a left-footed strike from 25 yards into the top corner to equalise.
Villa dominated from there on in, and finally won after a Tammy Abraham penalty. Hourihane posted on Instagram, and both Agbonlahor and Snodgrass replied to the ex-Barnsley captain.
TBR’s view
Dean Smith made a mistake when picking his Villa side to take on West Brom. At home, the former Brentford manager should have been much more offensive. Instead, he started Whelan over Hourihane.
It saw Villa waste 45 minutes – the first half – of playing at home across the two-legged tie. Now, they take a very narrow lead to the Hawthorns, where he should have started Whelan – not Villa Park.
Whether Smith opts to start Hourihane instead of Whelan remains to be seen come Tuesday night.
