Aston Villa face Tottenham in the FA Cup on Sunday evening, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up could look for the encounter.
Villa will not only be looking to bounce back from the disappointment of our defeat to Wolves last time out, but keeping our hopes of winning silverware this season alive will be at the forefront of our focus this weekend.
READ MORE: ‘Huge potential to exploit’ – Emery on challenge ahead with Villa loanee
Despite the visitors arriving with injury woes of their own, Ange Postecoglu’s side will pose a real threat with the quality still available to him, and so Villa must be at our best to ensure we advance to the next round.
Emery confirmed in his pre-match press conference on Friday that Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings, Pau Torres, Ross Barkley and Ollie Watkins are all ruled out due to injury, and so that will be a test of our squad depth too.
Three changes, reinforcements on the bench
Emiliano Martinez is expected to start between the posts, with Boubacar Kamara likely to form part of our backline again as a makeshift centre-half given the absentees noted above.
He’ll be partnered by Ezri Konsa in the middle, while Andres Garcia could get another start at right-back with January loan recruit Axel Disasi unavailable due to being cup-tied, but it’s hoped that this game is an opportunity for Ian Maatsen to come in and make a positive impression on the opposite side.
In midfield, with Kamara busy operating in defence, Amadou Onana could come in for Lamare Bogarde after making his comeback from injury last time out, and his partnership with Youri Tielemans in the deeper pivot will hopefully give us a solid base and foothold to control the game.
Donyell Malen, John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey could get the nod to form our attacking trident behind our frontman, with Morgan Rogers potentially forced to lead the line and fill in as our focal point up top with no Watkins.
Despite his struggles to find form this season, Leon Bailey will remain in contention, while it would be a surprise to see either Marco Asensio or Marcus Rashford named in the Villa starting XI given they’ve only had a few days to settle in, adapt and get up to speed.
It can’t be entirely ruled out though as much will depend on whether or not they’ve impressed Emery this past week and proven their conditioning is where it needs to be to start, but it’s certainly a major boost to see us still have quality and depth available despite our injury list.
The pressure will be on Villa to deliver at home against an injury-ravaged Tottenham team, and it’s hoped that we can put in a strong performance to book our spot in the next round of the FA Cup, which in turn will set us up for a big February as we prepare for three consecutive Premier League home games this month.