Aston Villa head to Wembley on Saturday to face Crystal Palace in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up could look for the clash.
After a brilliant run of form came to an end in disappointing fashion in midweek at Manchester City, Villa will have to regroup and go again with potentially six must-win games ahead to finish the campaign.
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Given our struggles against Palace in recent meetings, Emery will be fully aware of the threat that Oliver Glasner’s side pose, and so it’s hoped that he has a gameplan in mind that will nullify that threat as best as possible, and put us in a position to get the win this weekend.
Having made five changes on Tuesday night at the Etihad, more changes are expected from the Villa boss for this encounter, but with a fully-fit squad at his disposal once more, it’s hoped that we have the quality depth and options to make the difference if needed off the bench.
Three possible Villa changes, Watkins starts
Amidst all the rotation of outfield players, the one constant in the Villa XI has been the presence of Emiliano Martinez between the posts, and that will surely continue this weekend as he looks to bounce back from his error at Man City.
Matty Cash and Ezri Konsa will likely keep their respective places to hopefully shore up the right side of our defence, but Tyrone Mings could be brought back into the side as we look to try and contain Jean-Philippe Mateta as best as possible, with the Villa centre-half’s physicality and height hopefully a good match up against the dangerous Frenchman. Lucas Digne should complete our backline as we look to keep things tight defensively.
In midfield, Youri Tielemans’ influence in a deeper role was arguably missed at Man City even though he continues to play a pivotal part in our season, but the expectation is that he drops back next to Boubacar Kamara in our midfield pivot, with the pair hoping to control tempo and possession for large periods, which in turn will strengthen our ability to win the game.
That in turn will free up a spot in a more advanced position which should be filled by the return of John McGinn to the Villa XI after he was left on the bench in midweek, with Morgan Rogers and Jacob Ramsey providing us with width, pace, creativity and a direct threat in the final third.
As the talk surrounding his role continues after his recent comments, it could be a big game for Ollie Watkins as he’ll hopefully get the nod to lead the Villa line, and having made such a positive statement in wins over Southampton and Newcastle Utd in recent weeks, it’s hoped that he can produce something similar in this game and fire us to victory.
With our depth and competition for places, the likes of Axel Disasi, Pau Torres, Andres Garcia, Ian Maatsen, Ross Barkley, Donyell Malen, Marco Asensio, Amadou Onana, Leon Bailey and Marcus Rashford will all be itching to be involved, but that promises to be some bench if we are need of inspiration in the latter stages to get the desired outcome.
This is a hugely important game for Villa, as if we win, we could start to build momentum again with critical Premier League games coming up. Lose, and it threatens to derail our season and really suck the positive atmosphere and environment out of the group after such a promising campaign thus far.
In turn, Emery will no doubt work meticulously to get his gameplan and set-up right, and the players will have to step up and produce on a big stage to keep our hopes of winning silverware this year alive.
Agree with the potential Villa line-up below, or would you make changes?