Aston Villa face Sheffield Utd in the Premier League on Saturday evening, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter.
With just one win in our last five league outings and having fallen out of the top four in the table, Emery and the players will no doubt be looking to produce a big performance this weekend to get back on track.
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The disappointment of losing to Newcastle Utd in midweek will further fuel that response, but it’s likely to be another difficult assignment given the Blades are continuing to battle to escape the relegation zone.
If we have aspirations of returning home with all three points though, we have to raise our level for this game, and ultimately it starts with matching the intensity, energy and desire of the hosts to ensure that they don’t prevent us from controlling the game.
Emery confirmed in his pre-match press conference on Friday that Pau Torres, Nicolo Zaniolo, Jhon Duran and Lucas Digne are out, as they join long-term absentees Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings on the sidelines.
However, new signing Morgan Rogers was expected to be included in the matchday squad, and with our quality in depth, we still have a strong group to hopefully go out and get the desired result.
The 21-year-old is indeed named on the bench as expected, as per the club’s tweet below, while we make two changes to the side that suffered defeat on Tuesday.
Diego Carlos and Leon Bailey come in for Matty Cash and Moussa Diaby respectively, with Bailey expected to add width and a threat on the right wing, with Youri Tielemans likely playing the more advanced, central role to support Ollie Watkins in the final third.
Those changes aside, it’s a familiar Villa XI with Emiliano Martinez between the posts, while Ezri Konsa, Clement Lenglet and Alex Moreno complete the backline.
John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara and Douglas Luiz all start in midfield, and we have good options on the bench with a balance of experience and youth to change the game if needed.
All eyes will of course be on Rogers if he comes on though, as we’ll be hoping to see our January recruit make an instant impact if possible to help us secure all three points in an important test for us to get back to winning ways.
Your Aston Villa team at Bramall Lane. 👊 pic.twitter.com/BRgnKhhxtO
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 3, 2024