Aston Villa face Legia Warszawa in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up looks.
Villa begin the night joint top of Group E alongside the Polish side, but second in the standings following our defeat in the reverse fixture in September.
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In turn, the outcome of this encounter could prove to be decisive as to who advances as group winner, thus bypassing the playoffs round and qualifying directly to the next stage.
Given the significance of the clash then, the expectation was that Emery would name a strong Villa XI to try and secure all three points, but with the squad depth and competition we have currently, rotation was also likely to be prevalent.
As per the club’s tweet below, there is a major boost with Álex Moreno making his first start since May following a lengthy injury layoff, and it’s hoped that he goes well and gets valuable minutes to build his match fitness back up.
Robin Olsen comes in for Emiliano Martinez in a key change between the posts that will hopefully still maintain our defensive solidity, while Clement Lenglet is restored to the starting XI after impressing in Europe previously.
Our midfield is as strong as it can be with Emery taking no chances, but Jhon Duran leads the line ahead of Moussa Diaby, with Ollie Watkins seemingly rested and left out of the squad.
It’s a strong bench for Villa now too if we need it, and so hopefully we’ll come away with three big points and another morale-boosting win.
Your Aston Villa team tonight! 👊 pic.twitter.com/elhnfvDIfW
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 30, 2023