Aston Villa face Tottenham in a crucial showdown for our hopes of securing European football for next season, and Unai Emery has made one important change.
The Villa boss delivered positive news during the week as he confirmed that Jed Steer was now the only player still sidelined by injury, and that those coming back from setbacks are ready to be involved.
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Diego Carlos made his much-anticipated return to the pitch last weekend at Wolves, while Boubacar Kamara made a brief appearance and Philippe Coutinho was named on the bench.
Villa have shared several positive updates on Matty Cash over the course of the week, and so the expectation was that he’d return to the fold on Saturday too, but it remained unclear who was fit enough to start the game.
Emery ultimately makes just one change to his starting line-up, with Leon Bailey coming back in for Bertrand Traore, while there is good news on the bench as Cash is among the subs.
That said, he replaces Coutinho on the sidelines, and so it remains to be seen if that’s due to a fresh issue or if Emery gave preference to having other options at his disposal.
Either way, it’s a strong Villa XI as we would expect, with Emiliano Martinez having a familiar back four in front of him in Ashley Young, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Alex Moreno.
Bailey’s inclusion means John McGinn stays more central alongside Douglas Luiz and Jacob Ramsey continues on the opposite side. Emiliano Buendia will continue to provide support for Ollie Watkins in the final third, and so it’s an important and consistent balance that Emery has gone with again.
Time will tell if it’s a winning formula for us this weekend, but Villa need to produce a big performance and get three crucial points on Saturday to ensure we remain in the hunt for Europe, and our bench is undoubtedly looking much stronger now as we have options to impact the game if needed.
This is your Aston Villa team to face Tottenham Hotspur. 👊 #AVLTOT pic.twitter.com/jjtNWUsypw
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) May 13, 2023
