Poor Aston Villa.
Mired in the relegation zone for a large chunk of the season, the Premier League's bottom dwellers have won just three times and amassed a mere 16 points in the league. To put that into perspective, only Hannover (four wins, 14 points) and Troyes (two wins, 14 points) are worse off in Europe's top five leagues.
On the back of a heavy, 6-0 home defeat to Liverpool, things could only go up from here, right? Well, not quite.
Having crashed out of the FA Cup in the fourth round, French boss Remi Garde sought to take advantage of the off weekend and schedule a behind-closed-doors friendly at their Bodymoor Heath training ground against the club's Under-21 side.
The result? A 3-0 defeat.
Per Sky Sports, a number of first-team regulars featured in the match: Brad Guzan, Alan Hutton, Ciaran Clark, Kieran Richardson, Ashley Westwood, Jordan Veretout, Idrissa Gueye, and Scott Sinclair. Leandro Bacuna and Jordan Ayew also turned out, but rather for the U-21s.
Well, Mr. Garde. With a trip to the Britannia in store this weekend, perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to give the kids a run-out!
H/T Independent
