Aston Villa host West Ham Utd in the third round of the FA Cup on Friday night, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up could look.
A deep cup run is undoubtedly desired by all concerned after our struggles in the domestic competitions in recent years, and coupled with the club’s 150th anniversary celebrations, it promises to be a memorable night at Villa Park.
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Buoyed by the appointment of Graham Potter in the lead up to this clash though, the Hammers will be coming to ruin the party and advance to the fourth round, and so Villa must produce a top performance to ensure that it’s memorable for all the right reasons.
With our Premier League clash against Everton not until next Wednesday, that gives us a decent timeframe to recover from this game and get ready for the trip to Goodison Park, and so the expectation is that Emery will go with a strong line-up, to also reflect our seriousness in wanting to compete for this trophy. The question is though, how many changes will the Villa boss make, with some being enforced?
Maatsen, Onana, Buendia and Ramsey to start?
It’s difficult to predict our potential starting XI for this game given much will depend on Emery’s desire to rotate and give others a chance to impress, but what we do know is that Pau Torres, John McGinn and Jhon Duran will play no part due to injury and suspension respectively.
Nevertheless, after his spoke so candidly this week about his eagerness to deliver silverware to the Villa fans, it’s hoped that Emiliano Martinez starts between the posts, with one change perhaps being made to his defence as Ian Maatsen could come in after making a decisive impact off the bench in our win over Leicester City last time out.
It could be argued that the Dutchman was likely to come in for this game regardless to give Lucas Digne a rest, but he’ll hope that he can make a positive impression again, this time from the start, to try and displace his teammate in the battle for that starting berth at left-back.
Elsewhere, it will hopefully be a settled and familiar backline consisting of Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings, as they continue to strive to keep clean sheets and produce strong defensive displays.
In midfield, Ross Barkley has made his case to keep his spot after an impressive shift against Leicester and so he’ll hopefully get the nod here, and this could be a good time to rest Boubacar Kamara and bring in Amadou Onana to replace him.
Leon Bailey was decisive in the end against the Foxes, but after struggling prior to that breakthrough moment, he could certainly do with the chance to build on that momentum and start finding his best form with a start here, while Jacob Ramsey could do with the minutes as he continues his comeback from injury.
The likelihood is that Morgan Rogers will start after serving his suspension last time out, but if Emiliano Buendia is going to have a part to play in the rest of this campaign, it will surely be in the FA Cup, and so perhaps the Argentine playmaker will be deployed behind Ollie Watkins, who will continue to lead the line with Duran unavailable.
Robin Olsen, Diego Carlos and Youri Tielemans will be amongst those pushing to be involved, but it remains to be seen how strong Emery wants to go and who he wants to rest, but hopefully whoever is put out in the starting line-up, we have the quality and experience to get the job done and book our spot in the next round.
Agree with the Villa XI below or would you make any changes?
