Aston Villa host Everton in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up as we look to bounce back from defeat last time out.
Our season got off to a bitterly disappointing start with a 5-1 defeat at Newcastle Utd, and with significant injuries suffered by Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings, it has been a difficult fortnight for the squad.
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However, it’s imperative that we get back to winning ways this weekend to boost confidence, as we also have our Europa Conference League play-off round first-leg against Hibernian to consider in midweek.
Emery has been forced into one change with Mings now sidelined, and there has plenty of intrigue over how our defence would look without our influential talisman given how we’ve struggled in his absence.
As seen below, the Villa boss has made just one change with Pau Torres coming in for Mings, and he has kept faith in the rest of the side as he looks for a response and three points.
That in turn means Leon Bailey keeps his place in the starting XI despite being taken off at half-time last Saturday, and so this is a big day for him to put on a performance and show he deserves the ongoing faith being shown in him by Emery.
There is a double boost on the bench for us with Jhon Duran and Bertrand Traore back in the matchday squad, and so it remains to be seen if we’ll need them to change the game in the latter stages. New signing Nicolo Zaniolo isn’t involved, as he has been nursing a groin problem in recent weeks and arrived late this week.
Villa have a poor record without Mings having won just one of 12 league games he’s missed since 2019, while conceding 24 goals in those outings. In turn, we need to prove we can cope with his absence on Sunday to set the standard moving forward, while finding a balance between a solid defensive performance and more impressive attacking play to claim an important win.
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— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) August 20, 2023
Why Bailey ?