Aston Villa face Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter at Villa Park.
Fresh off the back of our win in the Champions League in midweek, Villa go in search of a fourth win in our opening five games of the Premier League campaign against Gary O’Neil’s side.
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It won’t be easy despite their struggles so far this season, as this has proven to be a challenging fixture for us in recent years, and so Emery and the players will know that we must be at our best to get all three points.
There was good news on Friday as the Villa boss confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Ollie Watkins was fit to feature despite picking up another knock in our win over Young Boys earlier in the week, while he also offered positive updates on Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara who continue to train with the rest of the group.
Jaden Philogene was the only player to be ruled out by Emery, and so there was an intriguing wait to see if the Villa boss would rotate and rest players, considering our European exploits earlier this week and with our Carabao Cup clash with Wycombe Wanderers to come on Tuesday.
As seen in the club’s post below, there is just one change to the Villa XI as Diego Carlos replaces Lamare Bogarde, with Ezri Konsa shifting across to right-back.
It’s an intriguing defensive tweak that has delivered mixed results in the past, but evidently Emery believes that we can maintain our balance and fluidity despite the change, and hopefully secure the victory regardless.
Elsewhere, it’s as we were with Emiliano Martinez starting between the posts, while Lucas Digne and Pau Torres complete our defensive line.
Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans continue in the deeper midfield pivot, and while Watkins leads our line, he’s supported by John McGinn, Morgan Rogers and Jacob Ramsey in the final third.
It’s a strong line-up complemented by a strong bench, and so as has been the case to start the year, Emery has top options in reserve if needed to come on and change the game in our favour. It’s hoped that won’t be necessary, but some will certainly benefit from the minutes if there is an opportunity to be had.
Here is how we line up today — UTV 👊#AVLWOL || #UpTheVilla pic.twitter.com/X2pOxA66g9
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 21, 2024
