Aston Villa face Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter.
The Villa boss confirmed in his pre-match press conference on Friday that Ezri Konsa, Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara and Jacob Ramsey were all ruled out for this one due to injury, but there was an important double boost with Matty Cash and Ross Barkley back in contention after recent setbacks of their own.
READ MORE: Villa hoping for important double injury boost for Juventus clash
In turn, there was an anxious wait to see how we lined up for this game as we look to put a poor run of form prior to the international break behind us, and get back to winning ways domestically ahead of resuming Champions League action next week when Juventus visit Villa Park.
As per the club’s post below, Cash returns to the bench after his injury layoff while there are four changes to the side that lost at Liverpool, with Lamare Bogarde, Ian Maatsen, Barkley and John McGinn coming in for Konsa, Lucas Digne, Onana and Ramsey.
It’s a 250th appearance for McGinn, and so it’s hoped that the Villa skipper can mark the landmark feat with a big performance to set the standard for the rest of the team in what will be a difficult encounter.
Meanwhile, there’s a place on the bench for youngster Ben Broggio as he makes a Premier League squad for the first time.
Despite our absentees, it’s a strong Villa line-up with quality and experience, but ultimately there has to be an improvement in our performance level to get a positive result and return to winning form.
Some of the changes from Emery are perhaps with Juventus in mind next week, but there’s enough in this XI to get the job done and rebuild some confidence after a difficult run.
Our starting XI to face Crystal Palace this afternoon 👊#AVLCRY || #UpTheVilla pic.twitter.com/RkOHLR2hma
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 23, 2024
