Aston Villa face Ajax in the Europa Conference League on Thursday evening, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up looks for the encounter.
It’s a crucial week for Villa as in addition to our European tie with the Dutch giants, we have a crunch clash with Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.
READ MORE: Emery in search of ideal balance as Villa face decisive week
In turn, Emery’s ability to rotate and successfully find the right balance will be pivotal in the next three games, as he’s expected to go strong across both competitions.
Jacob Ramsey was ruled out after he picked up a knock in the win at Luton Town last weekend, while long-term absentees Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia and Boubacar Kamara remain sidelined.
Given the magnitude of the tie and the difficulty of the opposition though, the expectation was that we’d go with a strong XI in Amsterdam, thus giving us the best possible chance of not only advancing, but also then having the potential option of resting key players in the return leg next week.
However, Emery has opted to rest a number of his usual starters, as he makes five changes for the trip to the Dutch capital.
Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Tim Iroegbunam, Morgan Rogers and Moussa Diaby come in for Matty Cash, Alex Moreno, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Leon Bailey. It’s a full debut for Rogers, who impressed at the weekend off the bench at Luton.
It’s an exciting opportunity for both Rogers and Iroegbunam to come into the side and make a positive impact, while it’s a major boost to see Torres return to the side. Additionally, Diego Carlos returns from injury to make the bench too.
Rotation and utilising our strength in depth is going to be fundamental this week, and while this is a huge game for us, we’ll hopefully be able to bring back a positive result for the second leg despite the changes.
Your Aston Villa team to face Ajax! 👊 pic.twitter.com/Hl00IzGnRh
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 7, 2024
