Aston Villa’s penultimate pre-season game sees us face Lazio at the Poundland Bescot Stadium on Thursday night, as preparations for the new campaign continue.
After a productive tour in the USA saw us get valuable minutes against Premier League rivals, we’ll wrap up our pre-season schedule with games against Lazio and Valencia ahead or our opener on August 12.
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Both games should be good tests for us ahead of our European exploits this season, as they will not only be challenging for the players given the quality of the opposition, but they will hopefully help us adapt to the European style and get an idea of what we can expect later in the campaign, should we advance through the playoff round.
Unai Emery will likely go with his strongest XI against Valencia at the weekend to get a settled starting line-up in place ahead of our trip to Newcastle Utd, and so the encounter with Lazio could be a last opportunity for him to tinker and test other solutions.
Konsa at right-back? Bailey, Dendoncker to get minutes?
Robin Olsen could start this one between the posts with Emi Martinez set to get the nod on Saturday, while Lucas Digne, Pau Torres, Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa could perhaps form the backline.
Konsa impressed at right-back against Fulham in Orlando, and he will likely be deployed there at times this season so this will be another good challenge for him.
Emery may well go with the tried and tested centre-half pairing of Konsa and Tyrone Mings at Newcastle given how solid they were last season, and so Torres and Carlos could start at the Bescot to get them prepared to come in when needed.
Time will tell if Digne starts as there is a lack of depth there with Alex Moreno still sidelined, with Seb Revan likely to replace him at some stage.
In midfield, Youri Tielemans could come back in after dropping to the bench against Brentford on Sunday, with Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Emiliano Buendia, Jaden Philogene and Boubacar Kamara all vying for spots around him.
It’s unclear what combination Emery will go with at this stage, but he’ll hope to give Leon Bailey minutes after his late arrival in the USA having had an extended break over the summer due to his international commitments, while Leander Dendoncker may well have joined back up with the squad this week after missing the trip due to the birth of his son.
Philippe Coutinho is another in need of minutes, while we’ll wait to see if Tim Iroegbunam is still out due to injury.
Up top, Cameron Archer could lead the line for us to give Ollie Watkins a rest ahead of the weekend, and again, time will tell if Jhon Duran is ready to feature after he was left out of the squad that travelled to the USA due to a knock.
It’s important he gets minutes to build his fitness and match sharpness, while we could see Moussa Diaby continue in support of our frontman as he continues to settle in and adapt to Emery’s style of play and demands.