Aston Villa face West Ham Utd in the Premier League on Sunday, and here’s how our starting line-up could look for the encounter.
There was disappointment in midweek as we suffered a frustrating 1-0 defeat at Monaco in the Champions League, and so a reaction is expected this weekend as we aim to bounce back.
READ MORE: Important boost for Villa ahead of West Ham clash but trio remain out
Despite defeating the Hammers in our FA Cup tie earlier this month, we saw the difficulties that they posed in that clash, and so if we don’t produce a much-improved display, we’ll likely encounter the same issues again in what is expected to be a difficult challenge.
Changes are expected to the Villa line-up that started in Monaco on Tuesday night, but with another crucial European game coming up against Celtic next week, it remains to be seen how much Unai Emery opts to rotate and rest key individuals while trying to balance that with putting out our strongest XI for this clash.
Maatsen, Ramsey, Duran to come into Villa starting line-up?
In his pre-match press conference, Emery confirmed that John McGinn is back in group training, and while that’s an important boost to strengthen our midfield options, the Villa skipper is unlikely to be risked immediately and is expected to be named on the bench.
Pau Torres, Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana remain sidelined by injury.
In turn, Emiliano Martinez will continue in goal, with Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings expected to start in our backline, while there could be one change in defence with Ian Maatsen replacing Lucas Digne.
That could be with the view of resting Digne for the Celtic game, but Maatsen produced a positive performance against West Ham earlier this month, and so the Dutchman could get the chance to back that up with another important shift.
Boubacar Kamara and Youri Tielemans are expected to continue in the midfield pivot given our absentee list, while Leon Bailey, Morgan Rogers and Jacob Ramsey could provide our attacking threat in the final third behind Jhon Duran.
That would mean resting Ollie Watkins for midweek with Duran looking to replicate his goalscoring exploits in the reverse fixture earlier this season, while the likes of Donyell Malen and Emiliano Buendia will be pushing to get a start, particularly the latter after his rare starting spot against Monaco as he produced an encouraging display on a difficult night for most of his teammates.
New signing Andres Garcia will also hope to be involved, but much will depend on how effectively and quickly Emery feels he has adapted this week after sealing his move from Levante.
While some positions are clearer than others given our lack of alternative options, there is intrigue over the Villa XI that Emery names, but it’s just hoped that whoever gets the nod is able to play their part in an important win to help us get back on track immediately.