Aston Villa face Lille in the second leg of our Europa Conference League quarter-final tie on Thursday, and here’s our potential line-up for the encounter.
Villa take a narrow 2-1 aggregate lead from the first leg to France this week, after goals from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn put us in control at Villa Park, only for Bafode Diakite to score a crucial late goal for the visitors.
READ MORE: Villa ace shines as he fills key void and justifies Emery belief
With a fiery atmosphere and a talented opponent standing in our way of advancing to the semi-finals, Unai Emery will know how difficult a test this match will be for his players, and it’s hoped that the Villa boss gets his game-plan spot on – as he so often does – and the squad respond with a big performance on the road in Europe.
McGinn, Matty Cash, Douglas Luiz, Youri Tielemans and Moussa Diaby are all a booking away from a suspension for the first leg of the semi-finals, but none of that quintet will let that impact their respective displays on Thursday evening as it won’t matter if we don’t get through.
Douglas Luiz back in, no Alex Moreno after injury blow
Given the stage we’re now at in the competition and our desire to keep our hopes of winning silverware alive this season, Emery isn’t expected to rotate significantly as he has done in the past.
In turn, Emiliano Martinez should start between the posts, with a back-four of Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne ahead of him.
Clement Lenglet and Cash will be pushing to be involved after returning to the matchday squad this past weekend following injury blows, but to come straight back into the Villa XI for this one could be a risky move. With Alex Moreno ruled out for between two to three weeks with a calf injury, Digne will have a heavy workload ahead of him at left-back.
After playing a decisive role off the bench in our win over Arsenal on Sunday, Leon Bailey is expected to start in this one, with Douglas Luiz returning to the Villa line-up too as he serves his domestic suspension.
McGinn could partner the Brazilian ace given how effective he looked in a central midfield role last time out, while Morgan Rogers continues to impress and could shift back out to the left side. That said, Nicolo Zaniolo is seemingly building some momentum, and the Italian playmaker will be desperate to keep his place in the Villa XI.
Diaby will also be in with a chance of getting the nod from Emery, but the Villa boss could lean on a familiar and effective set-up in Lille, with Tielemans providing support for Ollie Watkins in the final third.
That XI should hopefully give us the right balance to get a foothold and match Lille’s physicality and tempo, while also having the quality on the ball to dictate and control possession, and subsequently, the game.
Given the scenario we find ourselves in, it’s imperative that Villa show maturity and composure in both phases as well as being decisive at either end of the pitch, and this line-up could be the one to give us the best possible chance of doing that to avoid a chaotic back-and-forth affair, which could play into the hands of the Ligue 1 outfit.
