Bet on Villa vs Burnley – Houllier taking competition seriously

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Gerard Houllier marked the start of his spell as Aston Villa manager with a Carling Cup victory and there seems no reason to suggest that another will not follow against Burnley.

Match Odds

Villa reached the final of the competition last season and will harbour hopes of featuring in the latter stages of the tournament again.

The fourth round draw was kind to them as they were picked to play at home and they will fancy their chances of seeing off Championship opposition to reach the quarter finals.

Villa are 1/2 to beat Burnley and have won the last two meetings between the pair at Villa Park, including in the Carling Cup in 2005.

However, Burnley eliminated Villa in the previous season to that from the competition and are 11/2 to progress within the 90 minutes again.

The worrying thing for the visitors is that they come into the game having lost 4-0 at home in their latest Championship outing against Reading.

First Goalscorer

Houllier is unlikely to make widespread changes to his Villa team with the tournament potentially being their most promising chance of silverware this season.

Brad Guzan is almost certain to start in goal, while Emile Heskey and John Carew are vying for a place in attack.

Both are 9/2 to open the scoring against Burnley, while young striker Nathan Defouneso is 6/1 to break the deadlock if he is called upon to gain some more first-team experience.

Chris Iwelumo has already netted eight goals in the Championship for Burnley this season and his physical nature could cause the Villa backline problems.

He is 8/1 to be the game’s first goalscorer, while Chris Eagles can be backed in this market at 10/1 and could be a danger breaking from midfield.

Aston Villa beat Burnley 5-2 in the Premier League encounter at Villa Park last season. See the full Aston Villa vs Burnley match betting odds market.

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