Aston Villa host Arsenal in the Premier League this weekend, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up for the encounter could look.
Villa made an ideal start to the season last Saturday as we secured three points in our opener at West Ham Utd, and it’s hoped that will serve as the perfect foundation to follow it up with another positive result against the Gunners.
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Unai Emery masterminded a league double over Mikel Arteta’s side last season, but there is no doubt that this will be another difficult challenge as the title contenders look to avenge those losses and continue their own bright start to the campaign.
As always, but particularly now with the strength in depth we have and an almost fully-fit squad at Emery’s disposal, there will be crucial decisions ahead for the Basque coach, and it’s hoped that he’ll get the Villa XI and game-plan spot on once again to pick up an impressive win.
Cash doubt, Maatsen or Ramsey pushing for start?
Fresh from signing his new contract, Emiliano Martinez will continue between the posts, while the expectation is that we are likely to see an unchanged defensive line in front of him.
There has been speculation that Matty Cash might be a doubt for this game as he was replaced in the 82nd minute against West Ham and was seen holding his upper hamstring area, but there has been no official word as of yet on his condition.
That said, he wasn’t seen in training clips shared by Villa on Thursday, and so it remains to be seen if he’s available. That in turn could open the door for either Diego Carlos to come in as Ezri Konsa would shift across, or there could be a straight swap with Kosta Nedeljkovic in at right-back for his first Villa start.
Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne are all likely to keep their places, but it will be interesting to see if Ian Maatsen is edging closer to displacing the Frenchman at left-back. In the long run, the Dutch international is surely the first-choice option, and after impressing last weekend off the bench, there is intrigue over when he’ll come into the XI.
After an influential impact last time out, the midfield partnership of Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana will continue, while Leon Bailey, Morgan Rogers and John McGinn are expected to provide support behind Ollie Watkins again.
Villa’s talisman will have greatly benefited from his minutes last weekend after not being able to feature in pre-season, and so it’s hoped that has helped him regain match fitness and sharpness, while Jhon Duran will be itching to get on and make an impact to build momentum after his winner against the Hammers.
Jacob Ramsey is perhaps another player pushing for a start now as he’s gradually been reintegrated, but it would come as no surprise if Emery sticks with the same line-up, given how balanced, cohesive and fluid it looked against West Ham in the first half, while we have excellent, game-changing options off the bench available to make their mark.
Time will tell if that is the case, but it’s hoped regardless of personnel, Villa can secure another three important points to continue to make a positive start to the new season.
