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Many people said Patrick Bamford was not cut out for the Premier League. Many people reckoned Aston Villa were about to climb to the top of the table for the first time in nine years. All those people were made to look idiotic as Leeds ran Villa ragged and clinched victory thanks to a wonderful hat-trick by their centre-forward. That took Bamford’s tally to the season to six goals from six league games and sent Marcelo Bielsa’s recently promoted team into third place.
Although Villa were aiming for the win that would give them the best start to a campaign in their 146-year history, the atmosphere before kick-off underlined the grimmer singularity of this season. For this was one of those matches where the absence of fans felt especially poignant. The first top-flight meeting between these two noble clubs since 2004 should have been enlivened by hollering throngs, but instead dear old Villa Park was all lit up but barren. Continue reading...