Aston Villa face Everton in the Premier League on Sunday evening, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter.
Results elsewhere have largely gone our way this weekend, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, teams directly above and below us, all dropping points.
In turn, particularly to solidify our top-three position, but also to perhaps put pressure on those currently above us, a win on Sunday would certainly be a crucial result in our campaign.
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Unfortunately, the injury news wasn’t good from Emery in his pre-match press conference on Friday, as he confirmed that Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley and Alysson would be unavailable for this clash, and there was a late fitness test for Emiliano Martinez after he missed our win over Tottenham in the FA Cup last weekend due to a calf problem.
In turn, a weakened squad was expected, but as per the club’s post below, we’re still able to name a strong starting line-up with some key options on the bench to help provide an impact if required.
Emery makes three changes, with Emiliano Martinez, Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins coming in to replace Marco Bizot, Boubacar Kamara and the recently departed Donyell Malen.
Evann Guessand returns to the bench after his time away on international duty with Ivory Coast, but there is no Jadon Sancho in the matchday squad.
While it’s an important boost getting Martinez back from his injury, Villa are certainly light in reserve now with our injury issues, and so it’s imperative that we make a good start to the game and put ourselves in a strong position to see out the result.
With Malen gone and no Sancho available, there will be an emphasis on Guessand now contributing more if needed, but it’s hoped that we have enough to see off Everton and keep our brilliant run of form going, particularly at Villa Park.
Today’s starting XI to face Everton ✊ pic.twitter.com/6AEUYrxYQB
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