A young Villa side records a creditable draw in the away leg in Vienna of their Europa League Play off with Rapid.

A Martin O'Neill 'Cup Team' © is fielded by Kevin MacDonald and secures an away goal and draw in Vienna ahead of the second leg.

Midfielder Jonathan Hogg, 21, makes his debut aged 21 having signed from Middlesbrough as a schoolboy to become the 826th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Eric Lichaj, 21, makes his debut in a Villa shirt having joined from Chicago Magic in July 2007 aged 18 to become the 827th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

Isaiah Osbourne makes his first appearance in a Villa shirt in 66 games since ‘that’ Moscow game and only his 6th in 103 Villa matches. It would also be Osbourne’s 30th and final appearance before joining Hibs in August 2011. Osbourne would leave with a record of W6 D11 L13, 0 Goals, 1 Assist and 2 Bookings over his 4 seasons with Villa.

Barry Bannan scores his 1st goal in a Villa shirt on his 4th appearance (2 Starts) to make it W2 D0 L2, 1 Goal and 1 Booking so far in his Villa career.

Villa extend their unbeaten Premier League run to four winning once under Gérard Houllier as they climb to 9th in the table.

But Villa throw away a two goal League to miss out on a second successive League win over Manchester United after last season's victory at Old Trafford under Martin O'Neill.

Villa now have 1 League win in 7 under Gérard Houllier.

Midfielder Chris Herd makes his debut in a Villa shirt having graduated from the youth team to become the 829th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football.

James Collins makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (48 Starts) to make it W21 D18 L11, 3 Goals and 8 Bookings.

Stewart Downing makes his 50th appearance in a Villa shirt (47 Starts) to make it W23 D16 L11, 8 Goals, 8 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.12 games played so far in his Villa career.

Villa lose for the first time in five but now have just one win in eight Premier League games under Gérard Houllier after failing to score for the fourth time.

Robert Pirès makes his Villa debut aged 37 after joining Villa as a free agent earlier this month. Pirès, a surprising signing, becomes the 830th player to play for Villa in first team League or Cup football despite having already retired from first class football.

Brad Friedel concedes his 125th goal in a Villa shirt on his 103rd appearance to make it W46 D32 L25, 125 Goals Conceded at a rate of 1.21 goals per game, 33 Clean Sheets (32%), 1 Booking and 1 Red Card so far in his Villa career.

Luke Young makes his 75th appearance in a Villa shirt (73 Starts) to make it W32 D21 L22, 2 Goals and 12 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Ciaran Clark collects his 3rd Booking in a Villa shirt on just his 11th appearance (8 Starts) as it begins to become apparent that there may be disciplinary issues with the otherwise impressive youngster. Clark's record of W6 D3 L2 is tempered by his receiving of a caution every 3.67 games in his nascent Villa career.

Stephen Ireland makes his 10th appearance in a Villa shirt (7 Starts) and has contributed precisely nothing over the period save for 1 booking. Ireland's record stands at W2 D3 L5, 0 Goals and 0 Assists so far in his Villa career.

Gérard Houllier's messy reign continues as Villa lose to their neighbours in a Cup game for the first time since 1963.

Fresh from his first goals in a Villa shirt Ciaran Clark contributes his 1st assist on his 13th appearance (10 Starts) to make it W6 D3 L4, 2 Goal, 1 Assist and 4 Bookings.

James Collins makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (52 Appearances) to make it W21 D18 L13, 3 Goals and 9 Bookings.

Stewart Downing makes his 50th start in a Villa shirt (53 Appearances) to make it W23 D16 L14, 8 Goals, 8 Assists and 1 Booking at a goal involvement rate of one every 3.31 games played so far in his Villa career.

The sheer folly of appointing Gérard Houllier is laid bare at Anfield as Villa are defeated for a fourth successive game, fail to score for the fifth time in ten Premier League games having won just once. A team that had finished six for three consecutive seasons under Martin O'Neill was now languishing in 16th place, just two points above the relegation places as the divisive Houllier continued to strip any semblance of competence from the club.

Gérard Houllier's unreciprocated Liverpool love in on his return to Anfield was as unhelpful as it was embarrassing. Touching the "This is Anfield' sign was beyond the pale, the fact that the Liverpool fans only sang Houllier's name once they were three goals to the good was beyond excruciating. A lover unrequited passed over for something new, something he didn't really feel affection for but was with nonetheless. And his new flame couldn't stand him. Put us out of this misery.

Ciaran Clark collects his 5th booking in a Villa shirt on his 14th appearance (11 Starts) to make it a caution every 2.80 games and W6 D3 L5, 2 Goals and 1 Assist so far in his Villa career.

Luke Young makes his 75th start in a Villa shirt (78 Appearances) to make it W32 D21 L25, 2 Goals and 12 Bookings so far in his Villa career.

Villa win for only the third time in eleven under Gérard Houllier as he remains deeply unpopular for his ill-judged comments following the Liverpool defeat.

Villa's win is their first in 6 matches under Gérard Houllier but all the focus was on his idiotic comments after the Liverpool defeat and the growing demands for his immediate dismissal. 

Meanwhile, although a large swathe of senior players also felt the same way the spineless nature of the Villa boardroom saw no such action and instead they launched a public show of support despite widespread criticism.

Villa lose for the fourth time in five Premier League games to make it three wins in twelve under Gérard Houllier as they slump back to 15th in the table.

Whilst the defeat was chastening what was more concerning was that the gap of 15 days since the last game - Villa’s victory over Albion, which had been overshadowed by Houllier’s idiotic Liverpool comments - had been filled with further acrimony within the squad towards the manager. 

17 December 2010 “I’ve read about dissent in the squad over training methods but it is not true. “I know it is different to what it was before but it is not true and the players will adapt gradually. “We do a lot of work with the ball, we play a lot of games, we do some tactics as well. “Do people have to adapt to a new manager and methods? In a way, yes. You adapt or you die. We are changing a lot of things and that upsets the comfort of some players. “I am not going to talk about the players who are dissenting and not happy. Any manager who runs a team knows the players who are playing are happy, and the players who are not playing are not happy. “They think the methods are not good and they think the manager is not the right person but we have to live with that. “We know that we are changing things, we know that sometimes people are whingeing and moaning but they have a fantastic job. “They are paid high wages to play and enjoy football. This is a fantastic job and sometimes you forget that.” Gérard Houllier

Fabian Delph makes his 1st appearance in a Villa shirt since April to make it 16 Appearances (11 Starts), W8 D4 L4, 1 Goal and 6 Bookings.

Jonathan Hogg, 22, makes his 7th and final appearance for Villa before moving on to Watford on a free transfer in August 2011. Hogg had made his debut earlier in the season and recorded W1 D2 L4 and 2 Bookings during his 4 months in first team contention.