European contenders clash in Premiership

By Vic Mills

MELBOURNE (JP): Two of England's three remaining candidates for European honors meet in the Premiership over the weekend as Aston Villa travels to Old Trafford on Monday night to face reigning champion Manchester United.

Villa will look for the sort of performance that has served it well in the UEFA Cup this season. A competition in which it advanced to the quarterfinal stage Tuesday with a 2-0 (3-2 aggregate) win over Steaua Bucharest.

The tactics will be much the same as if an away tie in Europe, with players drilled to defend deep and look to snatch a goal either on the break or from a dead ball situation.

Australian international goalkeeper, Mark Bosnich, is Villa's man between the posts. While smaller in stature than his opposite number, Peter Schmeichel, his agility and shot stopping ability are the equal of the Dane.

The back four will be marshaled by England center half, Gareth Southgate, with the massive, uncompromising presence of Ugo Ehiogu alongside and Gary Charles and the experienced Steve Staunton out wide.

Yet for all Villa's defensive qualities, the match is likely to be decided in midfield where David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Ryan Giggs comprise the heart and lungs of this Manchester United side.

Here, Villa manager, Brian Little, will look to Mark Draper, Fernando Nelson and Alan Wright to run, tackle and cover everything in a red shirt.

And if the ball should break The away side's way, it will have enough quality in Dwight Yorke, Savo Milosevic and Stan Collymore to put away that elusive half chance.

That, both literally and figuratively, is the case for the defense. But to play United before a capacity 55,00 crowd at Old Trafford is not so much a trial as an exercise in quality control.

For the sheer weight of talent at United offers manager Alex Ferguson a variety of options depending on how he and his assistant, Brian Kidd, see the game.

Against Liverpool last week he somewhat surprisingly left Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the bench, preferring to play Ronny Johnsen and strengthen his midfield.

With an early chance to erase memories of Wednesday night's Champions League defeat against Juventus, the all-important forward pairing is likely to feature Andy Cole and Solskjaer with Teddy Sheringham playing off the front two. A formation that suggests a busy night for Bosnich and friends.

Chelsea, England's other European survivor, booked its Cup Winners' Cup quarterfinal place in November. The intervening weeks have seen a rapid improvement in its Premiership form. As Tottenham discovered to its cost last week as Chelsea ran out easy 6-1 winner.

With a squad to match that of United, manager Ruud Gullit has yet to choose the same team for successive matches. This system of rotation has not only bred a unique competitive element within the club, but, more importantly, has allowed players the necessary time to fully recover from injuries.

In a classic confrontation at Stamford Bridge today, second place Chelsea pits its free-scoring forwards against a Leeds United side that has risen to fifth in the table on the back of a disciplined and highly organized defense.

In arguably the match of the round at Highbury, fourth meets third as Arsenal plays host to Blackburn Rovers. Buoyed by its win at Newcastle last weekend, the north London club has another chance to demonstrate its improved form.

The recent trough, that coincided with the suspension of Dennis Bergkamp, is now behind it with the flying Dutchman back and starring at St. James' Park.

The return coincided with Ian Wright's reappearance on the scoresheet after an absence of six games. His headed winner arriving courtesy of a Bergkamp cross.

Rovers continues to push the leaders although still some way short of its best. The return of Colin Hendry will help share the load in defense, while up front Rovers will again look to Chris Sutton, Kevin Gallagher and Stuart Ripley to make things happen.

Christmas

The remainder of the Premiership program pits teams in the middle of the table against those in the lower half. With excitement at a premium, the likelihood is that Christmas shopping may well take precedence over a chill December afternoon on the terraces.

Indeed, hot chocolate and seasonally decked department stores offer a tantalizing alternative on the south coast where Southampton entertains Leicester City and at Bolton tomorrow for the visit of Derby County.

Taking the Christmas message perhaps a little too far, the ever-charitable Liverpool travels to Selhurst Park today to face Crystal Palace; while across London, Sheffield Wednesday visits a West Ham side whose recent performances appear more suited to pantomime than Premiership.

The Ghost of Soccer Past, meanwhile, continues to haunt fallen giant Tottenham as it travels to Coventry and the once mighty Everton which hosts Wimbledon.

There is unlikely to be much seasonal cheer at Oakwell either where bottom club Barnsley would dearly love to wake up on Christmas morning and find the last four months have been a dream. Visitor Newcastle United would simply settle for finding a striker in its festive stocking, preferably a fit Alan Shearer.