Aston Villa host Brighton in the Premier League on Monday night, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter.
Villa will be looking to produce a response after our 3-0 defeat at Newcastle Utd on Boxing Day, but this promises to be another difficult challenge against a side boasting plenty of quality and confidence despite their recent form.
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After his red card last time out, Jhon Duran misses out as he begins his three-game suspension, while Matty Cash is also ruled out after picking up his fifth booking of the campaign at St James’ Park.
In turn, Emery was set to be forced into two changes at least, but there was intrigue over whether or not the Villa boss would make any further tweaks in light of our last performance and our next opponents.
As per the club’s post below, we’ve made three changes in total, with Diego Carlos, Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins coming in for Cash, Amadou Onana and Duran.
With Duran now out for the next three games, it’s a great opportunity for Watkins to find some form and lead the line, while Bailey will hopefully give us balance in attack with his ability to stretch defences and provide a threat down the right side.
As for our defensive switch, Emery has often favoured going with Carlos and shifting Ezri Konsa across to right-back, and so it’s hoped that they deliver a solid defensive display in this one to give us a foundation to build on.
There is good news on the bench too as Jacob Ramsey has returned from injury to make the matchday squad, while Ian Maatsen has recovered from illness to join him and give us another top option if needed.
It’s a crucial game for Villa as we sign off on 2024 hoping to get back to winning ways and put the disappointment of our defeat last time out behind us, and despite our absentees, it’s a strong starting line-up and bench to give Emery plenty of options to get a positive result.
Tonight’s starting XI to face Brighton 👊 #AVLBRI pic.twitter.com/afnACzljFZ
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 30, 2024
