Site iconSite icon Talk Villa

Confirmed Villa XI vs Arsenal: Two key changes, duo absent from squad

Sumeet Paul
Aston Villa host Arsenal 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 both Tyrone Mings and Ross Barkley remain sidelined by injury and are long-term absentees, but there was a fresh doubt over Emiliano Martinez after he pulled out of our game against Brighton in midweek after picking up a back issue in the warm-up.

In turn, it remained to be seen if the Argentine shot-stopper would recover in time or if Marco Bizot would continue to deputise, but Emery had the remainder of the group to select from for this important showdown.

 

Want more Villa news? Subscribe to Talk Villa+ below for ad-free weekly newsletters, exclusive articles and much more sent directly to you. The TalkVilla podcast is also now available, have a listen, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or YouTube. UTV!

 

As per the club’s post below, Villa have made two changes to the side that started against Brighton, with Martinez recovered and replacing Bizot, while Youri Tielemans comes in for Evann Guessand, who doesn’t make the matchday squad at all along with Harvey Elliott.

Perhaps in an indication that he’s starting to win the battle for a staring spot at left-back, Ian Maatsen keeps his place over Lucas Digne, with Villa unchanged beyond the switches mentioned above in an important boost to have that consistency and familiarity in the XI.

Given the quality that Arsenal possess across the pitch, this promises to be a hugely difficult assignment as the title favourites look to cement their position at the top of the table, but if Villa can produce our best, we’ve certainly got a chance of causing an upset and continuing our superb recent form as we look for a seventh consecutive win across all competitions.

 

Exit mobile version