It has already been a notable season in terms of kit combinations for Aston Villa – prior to Tuesday night’s game away to Manchester City, they had appeared in eight different mashups.
Five of those involved the first and second kit, giving a total of seven different claret, blue and white looks by either mixing elements of the strips or using the claret alternative shorts and socks.
The trip to Eithad Stadium will see that figure increase further.
While the expectation might have been that they would play in their third shirt and shorts with white change socks, as they did at Nottingham Forest recently, instead the home jersey is allowed to be used – some referees would take issue with the sky-blue sleeves.
The claret socks will be worn but, rather than using the sky-blue primary socks and with the claret set too close to City’s navy, instead they will don the white away set.
The overall look is like the combination used at Blackburn Rovers in the 2011-12 season, when Villa didn’t have a third kit but appeared in nine different mixes.
With the game set to be vital in the battle for the Champions League spots, Villa fans will hope that the unusual mashup is one that is remembered fondly.
