Aston Villa travel to Old Trafford to face Man Utd on Sunday in another pivotal game in our ongoing pursuit of securing European football next season.
Unai Emery has guided us to fifth place in the Premier League standings at the time of writing, but with our rivals having games in hand, the likelihood is that things will change in the coming weeks.
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All we can do is continue to focus on ourselves and try to stretch our 10-game unbeaten run further, and a win over Man Utd this weekend would be another huge boost for our hopes of finishing in the top six.
Naturally, it’s going to be a major test of our credentials given the difficulty of the opposition, and although we weren’t at our best against Fulham in midweek, it’s hoped that with a week to rest, recover and prepare, we’ll be able to produce another top performance on the road.
Emery will be hoping for return of key Villa players
Villa were handed an important boost against Fulham with Emiliano Martinez recovering from a stomach bug to make the starting XI, having been forced off at half-time in our draw at Brentford last weekend.
In turn, he’ll be expected to continue between the posts, with Ashley Young, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Alex Moreno likely to get the nod to form the backline once again given how well they’ve played in recent months.
Emery did concede that tiredness was perhaps a factor in the second half on Tuesday night, and so there is the potential for some rotation with Lucas Digne in particular possibly pushing for a start, but there is surely a big part of the Spanish tactician that won’t want to change a winning formula and side.
Jacob Ramsey picked up an ankle issue in the second-half in midweek after an awkward tackle, and while he was replaced in the latter stages of our win, it’s hoped that he will have had plenty of time to get treatment if required and confirm his availability.
Should that be the case, the midfield is expected to be the same too with Ramsey, John McGinn, Leander Dendoncker and Douglas Luiz continuing to provide a crucial balance in that area of the pitch, while Emiliano Buendia will likely continue to support Ollie Watkins in the final third.
In turn, it could be another game where Villa name an unchanged side, but based on Emery’s last update on team news earlier in the week, it’s hoped that we get some good news on returns for Matty Cash, Boubacar Kamara, Philippe Coutinho and Leon Bailey.
“The other players are not players to add for tomorrow,” he said prior to facing Fulham, via VillaTV. “Those who are now injured are progressing well but are not ready for tomorrow yet.”
With several days to continue to work on their respective recoveries, we’ll hopefully welcome some of that quartet back at least to the bench in what would be a critical boost for us to add depth, competition and different tactical options for Emery to influence the game if needed.
Time will tell if any of them can recover in time, but the Villa starting XI is expected to remain the same as even if they do return they won’t be match fit, while it’s also dependent on any concerns Emery might have over the condition of certain players given the heavy workload they’ve had in recent weeks.
We’ll still name a strong line-up regardless, and the hope is that Villa can pick up another three valuable points in our march towards Europe.