Aston Villa face Middlesbrough in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday evening, and here’s how Unai Emery’s line-up looks for the tie.
Villa have had a terrible run in this competition in recent years, and that continued last season, despite our upturn in form following Emery’s arrival, as we crashed out at home against Stevenage at this stage.
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With our ambitions of winning trophies and competing at the top level in mind, the FA Cup will be an important objective this year along with the Premier League and Europa Conference League, and so it’s hoped that we fare better this time round.
Given the tone and comments from Emery in his pre-match press conference on Friday, there was a feeling that we would go with a strong XI for the trip to Teesside, albeit we are dealing with a number of key absences including Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Robin Olsen and Youri Tielemans.
Despite that, as seen in the club’s tweet below, we have indeed gone with a strong line-up that will hopefully impress en route to booking our place in the fourth-round draw.
There are four changes from the side that beat Burnley last time out, with Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, Leander Dendoncker and Jhon Duran coming in for Diego Carlos, Douglas Luiz, Moussa Diaby and Ollie Watkins.
It’s great to see Kamara back after his suspension given the influence he has in our midfield, while there are important minutes for a number of other players looking to prove their worth when involved, with eyes on Duran in particular amid speculation linking him with an exit this month.
We’ve hopefully got the balance right in terms of having the energy and tenacity required to match the hosts, as they will undoubtedly try to make life difficult for us, especially at home and under the lights in front of an expectant crowd.
However, that will only be half the battle, as we need to produce the necessary quality to secure the win and advance to the next round, and in turn avoiding either a shock exit or an unwanted replay later this month.
Your #EmiratesFACup Aston Villa team! 👊 pic.twitter.com/YiRkOB9kmm
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 6, 2024