Aston Villa face Burnley in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the clash.
As confirmed by the Villa boss in his pre-match press conference on Friday, there was a late decision to be made on Emiliano Martinez after he picked up a setback in midweek, while Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana, Andres Garcia, Jadon Sancho and Ross Barkley all remained doubts too.
Despite our absentee list, Villa have been able to get on track after our dismal start to the season, having registered three consecutive wins across the Premier League and Europa League in the space of a week.
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The latest of which was our 2-0 victory at Feyenoord on Thursday night, and so it’s hoped that the improved performances and results are boosting confidence and momentum as we head towards another break.
As for Burnley, they will be scrapping for every point this season as they look to avoid the drop, and so we must be at our best to get three points on Sunday. As per the club’s official post below, Emery has made four changes to his starting line-up from midweek, with Martinez, Lucas Digne, Lamare Bogarde and Donyell Malen coming in to replace Marco Bizot, Ian Maatsen, Evann Guessand and Emiliano Buendia.
There’s good news on the bench as both Barkley and Onana return to the matchday squad after extended absences through injury, but there is still no Sancho or Garcia.
Emery has opted to make changes to freshen things up, and with that comes tweaks to our set-up and personnel in certain positions, with John McGinn now likely to be deployed in a more advanced role. Given Bizot impressed once again last time out, it’s a shame to see him drop out, but getting Martinez back is undoubtedly a boost.
Having won three on the bounce, Villa will be desperate to sign off ahead of the international break with another three points, and hopefully we’ve got the quality, confidence and momentum to see off Burnley this weekend and continue our recovery after struggling in the early weeks of the campaign.
How we start to face Burnley this afternoon 🟣 pic.twitter.com/K8DQKdX7KL
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) October 5, 2025
