Aston Villa begin our Europa Conference League campaign with a trip to Legia Warsaw on Thursday evening, and Unai Emery has decisions to make on his starting XI.
Having had to produce a dramatic late comeback against Crystal Palace this past weekend, the Villa boss perhaps wasn’t able to rest key individuals for our midweek encounter as he would have liked.
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Further, there will be a clear desire to start the group stage on a positive note with three points, and so there is a strong argument against too much rotation as going with our strongest XI would undoubtedly make sense.
Nevertheless, Emery will know better than anyone which individuals are capable of causing our opponents the most problems, and so he’ll no doubt devise an effective game-plan that gives us the best possible chance of returning home with a positive result.
Villa travel to Chelsea on Sunday, but having worked so hard to end our long wait for European football and with the quality depth in the squad, there’s no risk of this game being taken lightly.
Emery to opt for minimal changes for UECL opener?
It’s vital that we start our European campaign well, and with the hope that we’ll be in a strong position to advance to the knockout stage towards the last games in Group E, there will be a potential opportunity to rest players later in the competition.
For now though, going with as close to our strongest starting XI would seemingly make the most sense.
In turn, Emiliano Martinez should start between the posts as he’ll undoubtedly be itching to perform on the European stage, with Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne starting in front of him in our back four.
Much will likely depend on the availability of Diego Carlos and Alex Moreno, but it would be an important boost to see the latter especially get minutes to build up his match fitness and sharpness after a lengthy layoff.
In midfield, Youri Tielemans may get the nod ahead of Douglas Luiz having made a positive impact off the bench on Saturday, and the Belgian international has been pushing for a more prominent role so far this season. That said, Luiz will undoubtedly be disappointed if he is left out, and so these are the big decisions that Emery will have to make in the best interests of the team.
One of Luiz or Tielemans should partner Boubacar Kamara, who gives us that defensive balance in the middle, while Nicolo Zaniolo could get the chance to build on his performance last weekend instead of Leon Bailey. Villa captain John McGinn would then complete the midfield quartet.
While Jhon Duran has made his case for a bigger part to play, the theme of going with our strongest XI could continue in the final third, with Moussa Diaby and Ollie Watkins starting.
If Emery believes other individuals are better-placed to cause Legia Warsaw problems, it would come as no surprise if we see more rotation. However, our usual starting XI will not want to miss out on playing in Europe having been so instrumental in getting us here, and so it’s difficult to see too many of them being left out of our opening game.
With the likes of Luiz, Duran, Bailey and Moreno on the bench, we have players capable of making the difference and changing the game if needed, and so it’s about striking the right balance and ensuring we start with an important win to get our European run off to a positive start.
Predicted Aston Villa XI vs Legia Warsaw: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne; McGinn, Kamara, Luiz, Zaniolo; Diaby, Watkins.
Any changes to the above Villa XI? Do you expect Emery to rotate?