Aston Villa face Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up could look for the encounter.
Despite a disappointing week in which we were held by Sheffield Utd at home before suffering a 3-2 defeat at Man Utd, Villa remain in third place in the Premier League table with 39 points from our opening 19 games.
READ MORE: What Unai Emery said on Villa’s transfer plans for January window
With a chance to further cement our spot in the top five to end 2023, it’s hoped that we can end the year on a positive by producing a response and getting back on track with a win.
It won’t be easy though against a Burnley side battling to move towards safety, and as noted by Emery in his pre-match press conference on Friday, we have more injury concerns heading into the meeting.
Villa team news vs Burnley
As per VillaTV, Emery confirmed that Lucas Digne will not be involved after he suffered a hamstring injury at Man Utd, and he will in turn now face around 20-25 days on the sidelines as he recovers.
Additionally, he noted that Pau Torres is still not 100 percent fit after his ankle knock, and his tone suggested that the Spaniard will not be fit enough to start this game either, having already missed our last two games.
Matty Cash is available again after suspension though, but Boubacar Kamara remains out as he serves the last game of his three-match ban.
Lenglet, Alex Moreno & Diaby to start as Emery makes tweaks
Emiliano Martinez will continue between the posts, but there will be at least one change in front of him in his backline.
Alex Moreno is set to replace Digne at left-back, and it’s an important run now for the Spaniard as we’ll need his influence in both phases of the game in the coming weeks to add a key dynamic to our play.
Crucially as well, with Digne ruled out, we need consistency and reliability in terms of Moreno’s availability, and so it’s hoped that he’s in good shape off the back of his own significant spell out.
Clement Lenglet will continue to deputise for Pau with Emery emphasising his faith in the Frenchman ahead of this game, and there could be an alteration next to him with Ezri Konsa shifting inside as Matty Cash comes back into the side.
Villa arguably need a bit more energy and penetration at home to break down sides, and although he hasn’t been in his best form recently, Cash is capable of adding an injection of pace and tempo to our play on and off the ball, rather than going for the patience and technical ability of Diego Carlos.
In midfield, it remains to be seen if Leander Dendoncker keeps his place in the starting line-up. Although he scored our second goal at Old Trafford, there was a glaring issue in terms of the balance and the ability to impose our game as the encounter went on, leading to a dreadful second half where we lost all control.
Our inability to retain possession and control things in midfield was a major factor in that, and so Emery may well be tempted to drop John McGinn back into a deeper role alongside Douglas Luiz in the middle, with Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey deployed out wide.
The latter will need to step up now after an underwhelming couple of games in which we’ve struggled, and he’s certainly had enough time back from injury now to get up to speed while his talent demands more of an impact.
Ollie Watkins will continue up top, and there could be a return for Moussa Diaby as he searches for form. The French forward struggled against Sheffield Utd with their deep defensive shape, and so if Burnley adopt a similar approach, albeit they are more expansive in their approach, he’ll need to adapt and find ways to impact the game.
Carlos and Nicolo Zaniolo are two options who will be hoping to be involved from the start, while it remains to be seen if Youri Tielemans is in contention with seemingly no mention from Emery on his current condition as he recovers from his own injury setback.
Further, fresh from his cameo appearance off the bench last time out, Tim Iroegbunam will now be pushing for more involvement, and given the potential for him to be a key fit in Emery’s preferred style and system, it would be great to see the talented youngster get another chance to impress.
