Aston Villa face Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday evening, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up looks for the encounter.
As with all of our remaining nine league outings, it’s a crucial game for our hopes of securing Champions League qualification, and so it’s hoped that we can put a poor recent record against our rivals behind us to secure all three points.
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The international break would have given us a chance to regroup ahead of a critical run, but there was mixed news on the injury front from Emery in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Although the Villa boss confirmed that Jacob Ramsey was progressing well having returned to group training, Matty Cash picked up a hamstring issue while representing Poland, and he is now expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks.
That setback aside though, the expectation was that Villa would still be able to put something close to our strongest XI out for this clash, and that was confirmed by the club’s tweet below.
Emery makes two changes to the side that picked up a draw at West Ham Utd a fortnight ago, with Diego Carlos and Moussa Diaby coming in for Clement Lenglet and Jhon Duran.
That in turn arguably gives us a better balance across the team, with Carlos adding physicality and composure alongside Pau Torres, while Diaby will hope to build on his important contributions off the bench and provide support for Ollie Watkins in the final third.
In less positive news, there is no Ramsey in the squad and so evidently he isn’t ready to return, but there are a trio of our talented youngsters along with more experienced teammates ready to come in if needed as we look to secure three crucial points and potentially take advantage of slip-ups elsewhere.
The hope will be that Ramsey is able to return next week either for the trip to Man City or the visit of Brentford next weekend, as he’ll be an important option at Emery’s disposal given the quality and energy that he brings to the side when involved, adding a vital balance to the side in the process.
Representing Aston Villa! 👊 pic.twitter.com/Ygov8xZnIe
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 30, 2024
