That gives everybody a lift - all around the team."Manchester City had [Sylvain] Distin who cost £5m, while [former City manager] Kevin Keegan paid £4m for David Sommeil Plus, at the other end, they were a threat from set-plays. O'Leary fears that unless the situation quickly improves, then Villa almost certainly face a scrap to avoid relegation, with the club currently just two places and two points above the bottom three. With Martin Laursen out until the summer with a knee injury, and Olof Mellberg and Liam Ridgewell currently struggling both for form and to create a partnership, the re-opening of the window in January cannot come soon enough for the manager. O'Leary has been linked with a move for Spartak Moscow's Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic this week after undertaking a spying mission to Russia at the weekend. But the future of the club is up in the air, with negotiations understood to start this week with the property development company Comer Homes Group regarding a £64m buy-out.Any takeover could lead to O'Leary being handed a crucial transfer kitty, but with just nine weeks to go until the transfer window, the clock is ticking on those talks.O'Leary said: "I know what is needed. The Eagles, meanwhile, have suffered four stalemates on the road and only two defeats, so statistics indicate it will be a close call.Both teams will be hoping for a result to keep in touch with Sheffield United and Reading, and Powell admits it is one neither side can afford to lose."It is a big game for us both," he added.
Not for the first time this season, O'Leary watched in despair as his backline disintegrated in the 3-1 defeat away to Manchester City on Monday night. Gary Borrowdale could be preferred to Danny Butterfield at right-back, but long-term casualties Andrew Johnson, Mikele Leigertwood, Danny Granville and Tony Popovic are all still out.Derby and Coventry will be looking to utilise home advantage as they attempt to pull away from the drop zone when they host Ipswich and Stoke, respectively.. The Aston Villa manager, David O'Leary, is desperate to shore up his leaking defence but, with a proposed takeover in the offing, it is a question of whether he will be in a position to strengthen come the transfer window. Manager Harry Redknapp will be without defender Chris Baird after the Northern Ireland international had knee surgery, but could recall Polish right-back Tomasz Hajto after he recovered from hamstring trouble.The midfielder Matthew Oakley (hamstring) could also return after missing the 2-0 win over Stoke, although defender Martin Cranie is still struggling with a similar problem.Palace have a doubt over their goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly after the 29-year-old sustained a chest injury on Saturday and had to be replaced by Julian Speroni.Jobi McAnuff has recovered fully from an ankle injury, but might struggle to regain a starting spot as Michael Hughes has impressed on the left in his absence.
"Palace are a good side and I am sure we will both be up there at the end of the season."The hosts will be hoping that the highly-rated 16-year-old Theo Walcott can extend his run after scoring in three successive games. I had some good times there and I still have a lot of friends at the club and keep in touch with a few of the players so I would love to figure in this one."The teams are separated by goal difference, with Palace one place higher, but Southampton have yet to be beaten at home, although they have been frustratedhaving drawn five games at St Mary's. Rafael Benitez made one change, restoring Peter Crouch for Ciss?and the striker had a half-chance in the opening minute but could not apply sufficient purchase to his header from Steve Finnan's cross.Anderlecht's followers demanded a penalty when Akin Serhat fell like a wounded gazelle as John Arne Riise tackled him in the 11th minute. Fernando Morientes, plundering his 27th goal in the competition, set Anderlecht on the way to an 11th successive group defeat, with goals by Luis Garcia and Djibril Ciss?ompounding Belgian woes. Chelsea's failure to end Real Betis's hopes means that the European champions must wait a little longer to qualify, but Liverpool could take satisfaction from a job completed by Ciss? shot with two minutes remaining. Anderlecht ended disgraced as well as defeated, Serbia's Nenad Jestrovic being sent off five minutes after coming on, for racist abuse of Mohamed Sissoko with the referee within earshot. Quite apart from the question of reaching the knock-out stage, Liverpool needed a performance that built on Saturday's win over West Ham and put the failures at Fulham and Crystal Palace firmly behind them.