Aston Villa face a difficult test away at Liverpool on Saturday, as we look to keep our European hopes alive heading into the final weekend of the Premier League campaign.
Villa sit in eighth place ahead of kick-off at Anfield, level on points with Tottenham in seventh but one point adrift of Brighton in sixth, who also have a game in hand.
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Unai Emery though will undoubtedly simply be focusing on us and getting three points this weekend, and although Liverpool are in fine form and have quality throughout the side, it’s a challenge that we have to embrace and be as competitive as possible in to try and keep our European push going.
Speaking to the media in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, the Villa boss confirmed that Philippe Coutinho is out for our remaining two games, while Calum Chambers is a doubt as he faces a late fitness test.
That duo aside though, we have a full squad available, and there could potentially be one important change that Emery opts to make for this encounter.
Kamara to replace Bailey? Young to keep his place?
Emiliano Martinez will continue between the posts, and the expectation for now is that a familiar back-four of Ashley Young, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Alex Moreno will start in front of him.
While Matty Cash returned from injury last weekend, he is still likely lacking match fitness, and so although we could certainly do with his pace down the right side in both phases of the game, it’s unclear if Emery is willing to take that risk.
In turn, Young could continue at right-back for another week, and it’s hoped that he, along with the rest of the backline, can put in a strong defensive performance to frustrate Liverpool.
One change that Emery could make though is bringing Boubacar Kamara back into the starting line-up in place of Leon Bailey, which in turn would then allow John McGinn to move to the right side.
Kamara’s calmness, composure and technical quality combined with his defensive strengths will be key in this game as we look to try and get a foothold and control the tempo and possession, and so it will be a big call on whether or not he’s ready to start after coming back from an injury of his own in the last two weeks.
Douglas Luiz and Jacob Ramsey will no doubt continue in midfield, and Emiliano Buendia is expected to provide support for Ollie Watkins, with the pair’s work ethic and pressing crucial to helping us limit Liverpool’s ability to build out from the back.
Villa will be fully aware of the difficulty of this challenge, but as we’ve shown under Emery, we can produce big performances and get results. It will be imperative that we put in a solid defensive performance to give ourselves a foundation to go out and win the game, and we’ll need to be much more clinical than we’ve been in recent weeks on the road to return home with all three points.
Cash’s return could potentially be a key boost, while Moreno will need to be switched on defensively in this one to go with his attacking qualities, as the flanks will be where Liverpool will try to cause us problems.
Further, that midfield trio of McGinn, Kamara and Luiz will be fundamental in our ability to keep possession and create openings, and so much will depend on their ability to impose themselves and control the game as much as possible if we have a chance of securing a crucial win.