Aston Villa host Newcastle Utd on Saturday as Unai Emery and the players hope to pass a difficult test and solidify our position in the hunt for European football.
Six wins in our last seven games have moved us up into sixth place in the Premier League table, as we continue to put ourselves in contention for a European qualification spot for next season.
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However, with a difficult run-in from this point onwards, it will be a real test of our credentials and so it’s vital that we start well against Newcastle this weekend to keep our momentum going.
As confirmed by Emery in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, Philippe Coutinho and Leon Bailey all remain sidelined due to injury, and so the Villa boss is forced into one change to his starting XI.
While many perhaps would have expected Bertrand Traore to get the nod after his goalscoring heroics in our previous two games, it’s Leander Dendoncker who comes in to replace Bailey, as the Belgian international will hopefully solidify our midfield and give us a presence and control in that area of the pitch.
That in turn means John McGinn shifts across to the right side where he’ll hopefully have more freedom to get forward and be more of an attacking threat – having looked impressive in that role previously – while Emiliano Buendia will provide support to Ollie Watkins in the final third too.
That aside, it’s a familiar looking Villa XI as Emery goes for consistency, and it’s hoped that it’s an important factor in our ability to get a positive result this weekend and continue to strengthen our position in the top six.
Given the absentees due to injury though, our bench does look a little thin, with teenage forward Travis Patterson named amongst the substitutes for this one. However, with Traore and Jhon Durán available, there are still options to change our dynamic in attack if needed and depth in other areas too.
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— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 15, 2023