Aston Villa host Newcastle Utd on Saturday, and Unai Emery will be forced into one change at least as we look to maintain our superb recent run of form.
With eight games remaining in the Premier League season, we’ve put ourselves in contention to compete for a European qualification spot in the coming weeks after a brilliant streak of six wins in seven games.
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Emery and the players have continued to emphasise the importance of focusing on one game at a time throughout, and that won’t change as we now face a difficult run of fixtures against sides directly around us in the current standings.
In order to have the best possible chance of competing with that group of teams for Europe, Emery will be desperate to have as close to a fully fit squad at his disposal as possible, but unfortunately the Villa boss confirmed that won’t be the case this weekend.
As per Emery in his pre-match press conference on Friday, he confirmed that the same individuals remain sidelined for the visit of Newcastle, with Boubacar Kamara, Matty Cash, Philippe Coutinho and Leon Bailey expected to miss out.
While we’ve dealt with the absences of that initial trio for a few games now, Bailey is ruled out after sustaining a hamstring injury last time out, and so Villa will be forced into at least one change this weekend.
Traore to replace Bailey in only Villa change
Emery does have options in terms of who replaces Bailey, but given Bertrand Traore’s impact in the last two games, it will surely be an opportunity for him to cement his place in the Villa starting XI.
Jhon Duran will be hoping for a more prominent role too as we become a little more limited in attack with Coutinho and Bailey out, but it’s the Burkina Faso international who will likely get the nod to try and build on his decisive contributions in recent weeks.
Beyond that though, we’ve seen Emery go for consistency and familiarity over the past month or so, and with a settled side who have become defensively sound and potent in the final third, that is expected to continue this weekend as we’ve found an important balance in the side that shouldn’t be disrupted unless necessary.
Emiliano Martinez will remain between the posts, with an unchanged backline in front of him as Ashley Young, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Alex Moreno look to secure a fourth clean sheet at home on the bounce.
Jacob Ramsey, John McGinn, Douglas Luiz and Emiliano Buendia could form the midfield, leaving Traore to provide support for Ollie Watkins who will continue to lead the line and hopefully maintain his brilliant goalscoring form under Emery.
Time will tell what shape and system Villa go with, with the likelihood that Ramsey and Buendia could shift into different positions along with Traore so that it’s not a flat 4-4-2 at all times.
Barring any late setbacks, the Villa XI below is arguably the strongest available, and while we have to show improvement against a more competitive side on Saturday, it’s a test that the squad should be relishing now as we look to set the tone and standard for what’s to come in the final weeks of the campaign as we continue to set our sights on Europe.
