Aston Villa face Legia Warsaw in our Europa Conference League opener, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter.
There was uncertainty ahead of the game as to how much rotation the Villa boss would opt for given our hectic schedule this month, which next sees us travel to Chelsea on Sunday in the Premier League.
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However, a balance was needed given this is our opening game of the Europa Conference League, a competition that the Villa coaching staff and players worked hard to qualify for and will want to enjoy a deep run in this season.
In turn, it’s not a surprise to see Emery put out a strong starting XI, but he has opted to rotate with five changes to the side that faced Crystal Palace last weekend, as seen below.
In come Calum Chambers, Clement Lenglet, Youri Tielemans, Leon Bailey and Jhon Duran for Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Douglas Luiz, Moussa Diaby and Ollie Watkins.
While the expectation was that Emery would go with something closer to his strongest XI, that remains a strong line-up with the experience and ability needed to deal with the atmosphere and occasion.
Coupled with a superb bench that includes a double boost with Alex Moreno and Jacob Ramsey back in the fold having recovered from injury, we have options available to come on and impact the game if needed.
It’s a big night for Villa as we return to European football, and it’s hoped that we can get a positive result to get us off the mark, and there is certainly plenty of quality in this line-up that can help us return home with a positive result.
Your Aston Villa team for tonight's #UECL Group E opener! 👊 pic.twitter.com/A56CNERdDn
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 21, 2023