VILLA TO START NEW SEASON AT HOME TO BOLTON

By Ryan Ghee
July 18 2005

Aston Villa will kick off the new campaign at home to Bolton on the 13th of August before travelling to Old Trafford to face Manchester United just seven days later.

No team likes to open a new campaign with a tough game but this is exactly what Aston Villa have to do. With a revitalised Bolton Wanderers the first visiters to Villa Park, Aston Villa have a tough task on their hands. To make it even worse, Villa then have to travel to Old Trafford to face the former champions who feel they have a point to prove this season.
Looking on the bright side however, if Villa get a couple of decent results in these two games, the morale will be high and it could be the start of a successful season. Although Villa will be the underdogs for both of these games, you can't help but feel that with two determined performances, Villa can come away with all 6 points. The Bolton team will undoubtedly have a few new additions and will probably be a bit shakey and Man United's on-field performance may well be affected by off-field issues involving Malcolm Glazer.
The good news is that after these two tricky games, Villa's season does start to get a little bit 'easier'. They will travel to Pompey for their third game and then host Blackburn on the fourth day of the season; two games which you would expect the team to win.
I may well be being very optimistic in saying that it is possible for Villa to win all four of their opening games but who knows? Villa are one of the most unpredictable teams in English football and if they get off to a flying start to the season, a top-six finish will definately be within their reach.