Aston Villa face Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday night, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up could look for the encounter.
Aside from the fact that we’re facing an in-form and confident Arne Slot side given their impressive start to the season, Villa will be looking to bounce back after a difficult fortnight or so following three consecutive defeats across all competitions.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Villa suffer defeat to Club Brugge as rut continues
It’s a big test for Emery and the players as we’ve not had such an extended blip in form since he was appointed, and particularly with our performances arguably nowhere near good enough either, it is a concern, and the hope is that we produce a response this weekend despite the difficulty of the challenge.
As per his pre-match press conference on Friday, Emery confirmed that neither Matty Cash nor Ross Barkley will be involved due to injury, while Youri Tielemans is a doubt with a minor knee issue, but it remains to be seen if he’s passed fit and is able to feature.
We will likely see changes again though from midweek, with Villa going with as strong a starting XI as possible ahead of the international break.
Onana, Kamara to form midfield pivot? Konsa at right-back again?
Emiliano Martinez will continue in goal, while the expectation is that we’ll see a back-four consisting of Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne.
The time to give Kosta Nedeljkovic an opportunity to integrate and adapt arguably came and went in midweek against Club Brugge, as it seems highly unlikely that he’ll be given a starting berth in this clash at Anfield.
That in turn means Konsa will have to continue at right-back in Cash’s absence, and although it still garners some support, there is a feeling that this set-up disrupts our best centre-half pairing and complicates our ability to build out from back effectively and consistently, while Diego Carlos has produced indifferent form since returning to the starting line-up.
Meanwhile, there could also be a change in midfield if Tielemans isn’t able to recover from his knee injury or is deemed too big a risk to start, and so we could see a midfield pivot of Amadou Onana and Boubacar Kamara try and give us a solid foundation in that area of the pitch to ensure we get a foothold and aren’t overrun by the hosts.
Leon Bailey, Morgan Rogers and John McGinn could provide support behind Ollie Watkins in the final third, as although there is a strong case for Jacob Ramsey to come back in after he was on the bench in midweek, it remains to be seen how conservative an approach Emery wishes to adopt at Anfield as we’ll perhaps be under pressure for most of the game.
McGinn gives us more energy and defensive tenacity with his work ethic, but Ramsey’s pace and threat in transition alongside Rogers and Bailey could put us in a position to be devastating on the counter-attack. That could be a key change the Villa boss makes as the game progresses if we’ve settled and stayed in the contest.
Time will tell what Emery goes with, but it’s hoped that regardless of personnel, we’re able to come away with a positive result and rebuild some confidence and form after a difficult run of performances and outcomes.
