Aston Villa face West Ham Utd in the Premier League on Sunday, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up looks for the clash at the London Stadium.
Villa sit in fourth place in the table with a two-point lead over Tottenham, who lost on Saturday and thus set up the chance for us to extend that advantage this weekend.
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Having suffered a disappointing defeat to them last weekend, Villa bounced back impressively with a 4-0 win over Ajax in the Europa Conference League in midweek, and so confidence will hopefully once again be high.
However, there was a fresh double injury concern after both Ollie Watkins and Diego Carlos departed early in that game, with the former suffering a nasty cut to his leg while Emery confirmed Carlos felt an issue with his hamstring.
In turn, the Villa duo were a doubt to be involved against the Hammers, but having arrived at the stadium with the rest of the squad on Sunday, there was an important update as seen in the club’s tweet below.
Watkins has been passed fit to start in a major boost given his consistent impact so far this season in leading the line for us, while Carlos makes the bench.
There are three changes from the Villa boss to the side that lost last weekend, with Alex Moreno, Morgan Rogers and Jhon Duran coming in for Lucas Digne, Matty Cash and the suspended John McGinn.
It’s a big opportunity for Duran in particular as he looks to build on his positive impact in midweek with a goal against Ajax, while it’s an attacking set-up from Emery given he’s gone with two strikers up top in a rare tweak.
Naturally, it’s hoped that we can still effectively impose ourselves in the game and control proceedings, as it would be a huge win for our season to put some additional daylight between ourselves and the chasing pack.
Representing Aston Villa today! 👊 pic.twitter.com/LcOAQ3PI7r
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 17, 2024