Aston Villa will play their final home game of the Premier League season on Thursday night as we host Burnley at Villa Park.
There was disappointment last time out as we were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace, and so Steven Gerrard and his players will no doubt be itching to bounce back and get all three points in midweek to send the home faithful off happy as we close out the season.
READ MORE: Aston Villa injury news: Ezri Konsa ruled out for up to 16 weeks with knee injury
While a top-half finish seems a long shot as things stand, it’s important that Villa finish off this season with a sense of positivity, as we look to attack the summer transfer window ahead of Gerrard’s first full campaign in charge next year.
For now though, the focus is on Burnley, who are still fighting for their top-flight survival, and so we’ll need to get our system and selections right as well as our application on the pitch to ensure that we take something from the game.
Konsa ruled out, Buendia deserves chance in Villa XI
As confirmed by Gerrard in his press conference on Wednesday, Ezri Konsa has been ruled out of action for up to 16 weeks after suffering a knee injury, and so the Villa boss will be forced into at least one change.
Calum Chambers has stepped in for Konsa on several occasions already this season, and so the expectation is that he will start this game in his place and take up his position next to Tyrone Mings in the heart of the Villa backline.
Gerrard added that Emi Martinez has a slight issue, but he is confident that the Argentine international will shake that off and be passed fit to feature.
Elsewhere, Jacob Ramsey made his return from injury off the bench at the weekend and so he’ll be hoping that he gets the nod to come back into the starting XI, while it remains to be seen if Gerrard is tempted to shuffle his options in the defensive midfield role with Tim Iroegbunam, Marvelous Nakamba and Douglas Luiz at his disposal.
One key change that he will hopefully make though is giving Emiliano Buendia another shot in the line-up, with the Argentine playmaker shining in our win over Burnley at Turf Moor recently, while he has also made several impressive cameo appearances off the bench.
Combined with Philippe Coutinho struggling to have a decisive influence on our play in the final third, it’s a switch that seems to make sense to give us a fresh look behind Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings in a two-pronged attacking line.
Time will tell what Gerrard goes with, but with our season-ending trip to Manchester City on Sunday following quickly, he could be considering rotating his side for this game and having another look at certain individuals who may or may not be part of his plans beyond this season.
– No Konsa, so Chambers in
– Martinez to hopefully shake off minor issue
– Buendia in ahead of Coutinho?
– Ramsey back in, rotate in DM role/possibly another opportunity for Iroegbunam instead?#avfc #UTV 🟣🔵 pic.twitter.com/1TJHS2pAMF— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) May 18, 2022
