Aston Villa face Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday, and here’s how Unai Emery’s starting line-up for the encounter could look.
After a memorable night on Wednesday as we defeated Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Villa return to domestic matters this weekend and face another big test against an under-pressure Erik ten Hag.
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The visitors will be desperate for a positive result amid rising tension over their start to the campaign, and with the quality that they possess, this will be a difficult challenge regardless of their struggles.
In turn, Villa will need to be at our best once again, as it would be ideal to sign off ahead of the international break with another win and look back a very successful first stage of the season, both domestically and in Europe.
There will likely be changes to our starting XI though, with our absentee list potentially set to grow after fresh setbacks in midweek.
Cash to return? Philogene to keep place, will Duran start?
Emiliano Martinez will take his place in between the posts, but there could be a change in our backline. After a tricky first two games back in the side, Diego Carlos was excellent in midweek and staked his claim to remain in the side, but with Matty Cash returning from injury and having been named in the squad against Bayern, he’s now pushing for a return.
It’s a big call for Emery, as although Ezri Konsa was brilliant too, the argument remains that he’s better as a centre-half, and so time will tell what the Villa boss goes with. Cash may just edge it though as we return to our usual balanced defence which will be especially important at home with the onus on us to break the visitors down.
Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne will complete our back four along with one of Cash or Carlos.
Amadou Onana is a doubt after picking up an issue in midweek, but Emery was optimistic that he will be available for this game, and so the Belgian international will hopefully start to continue his positive start to the season.
However, with both Jacob Ramsey and Leon Bailey seemingly unlikely to feature as both sustained problems during the week which cut short their contributions against Bayern, we could see a reshuffle in the final third to cover their possible absences. John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara remain out.
Morgan Rogers will no doubt keep his place and Ollie Watkins too, but Jaden Philogene could get back-to-back starting berths to fill the void on the right side, while it remains to be seen how Emery prefers to line us up tactically.
One option would be to start the in-form Jhon Duran up top alongside Watkins, which would be a deserved reward for him given how decisive he has been over the last month or so.
That said, time will tell if Emery is willing to tinker with his tactical set-up and structure that has served us so well thus far by going with two up front rather than a lone striker, and so there is an alternative option that would see Ross Barkley come in alongside Onana, with Youri Tielemans pushed up into a more advanced role, or perhaps even vice versa.
Given how effective and impactful Duran has been off the bench, it may well be worth sticking with that formula, and so we could see the latter change. It remains to be seen what system and personnel Emery believes will give us the best possible chance of winning the game as part of his gameplan, but given his track record over the last two years, it will more than likely be the right decision.
Thoughts on the Villa XI below, any changes?
Predicted Aston Villa XI vs Man Utd: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne; Onana, Barkley; Philogene, Tielemans, Rogers; Watkins.
