Aston Villa face Everton in the Premier League on Sunday, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up looks for the encounter at Goodison Park.
A win this weekend would move us back up to second in the table as we try to solidify our spot in the top four, and there was good news in midweek on the injury front.
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Emery confirmed at his pre-match press conference that both Pau Torres and Youri Tielemans were back in group training this week, and so it had been hoped that they would be able to feature on Sunday and provide us with a timely boost.
However, as confirmed in the club’s tweet below, Pau is absent from the matchday squad and so he seemingly hasn’t recovered sufficiently from his ankle knock to be risked in this one, with Clement Lenglet continuing to deputise in defence.
As for Tielemans, there was better news on the Belgian international as he is back on the bench after his absence due to injury since last month, and that is an important boost for Emery to have him available again.
There are four changes in total from the Villa side that saw off Middlesbrough in the FA Cup though, with Diego Carlos, Douglas Luiz, Moussa Diaby and Ollie Watkins coming in for Matty Cash, Leander Dendoncker, Jacob Ramsey and Jhon Duran.
Emiliano Martinez starts in goal, with Ezri Konsa shifting across to right-back to accommodate Carlos, while Alex Moreno continues on the opposite side.
Leon Bailey, Boubacar Kamara, Luiz and John McGinn form our midfield, with Diaby providing support for Watkins in the final third.
In turn, it’s still a strong Villa line-up that will face Everton, but it’s certainly a shame to still be without Pau in particular, and we hope Emery is able to allay fears over setbacks for the Spaniard and Ramsey after the game and confirm that they simply weren’t risked for this encounter.
Representing Aston Villa at Goodison Park! 👊 pic.twitter.com/EB2gsaPQWD
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 14, 2024
