Back Aston Villa to stifle Rory Delap’s sling

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Since Stoke’s promotion, many methods have been employed to try to nullify the threat posed by Rory Delap’s bullets into the box.

Dean Windass tried distracting him with some unusual warm-up routines, Lucas Neill attempted to engage in some towel-related mind games and, just the other day, Burnley tried pushing the advertising hoardings closer to the pitch, but still goal after Stoke goal stems from a Delap throw.

Aston Villa won’t need any fancy techniques to shield themselves from an onslaught – they’ve got Richard Dunne, while the presence of James Collins

Posted: March 11th, 2010 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Is the rise in away wins a result of poor home support?

chickendinner tries to pinpoint why there are more away wins

As part of chickendinner’s ongoing investigation into why away wins are at an all-time high in the top-flight, we are looking at some of the clubs who are better at home and some who are better away in an attempt to identify why this is the case:

Better at home

Manchester United
The champions have won their last six home league games and as the atmosphere hasn’t been too spectacular this year when chickendinner correspondents have visited, it could be that the main reason for their advantage is a fear factor. It could be that most teams go to Old Trafford believing that a draw is as good as they can get and set their stall out to defend. However, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, it’s very rare that teams that set-up in such a way don’t get breached in the end, as Sunderland found out the other week.

Fulham

Posted: December 18th, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment