After starting their Premier League campaign with an impressive 2-1 victory over West Ham, Aston Villa return home for the first time this season. Having done the league double over Arsenal last time around, Unai Emery’s side should be confident heading into the clash with his former employers. Here is our Aston Villa predicted lineup.
How Aston Villa Have Lined up Recently
Amadou Onana made his Aston Villa debut at the London Stadium a week ago, marking the occasion with the opening goal in the fourth minute. He scored the quintessential definition of a towering header, while fellow new recruits Kosta Nedeljković, Ian Maatsen and the returning Jaden Philogene were all introduced as second-half substitutes.
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Despite not playing a single minute during pre-season, following his exploits at the European Championship, Ollie Watkins did start against West Ham before being replaced by Jhon Durán on the hour mark, and the Colombian turned out to be the hero, stroking home the winner late on.
Following last season’s fourth-placed finish, many were wondering just how strong Aston Villa would be this season; based on last weekend’s showing, they’re going to remain competitive.
Unai Emery’s team commenced the campaign with a 2-1 victory over West Ham, meaning the Villans are now seeking to start a top-flight season with back-to-back wins for the first time since 2020. They actually won four on the spin that year, including that famous 7-2 demolition of Liverpool.
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Stylistically, expect more of the same from Emery’s team compared to last season, with inverted wingers Morgan Rogers and Leon Bailey key to this system. The latter in particular caused Arsenal huge problems last season, breaking the deadlock during Villa’s 2-0 win in North London back in April.
Emi Buendía ruptured his ACL on the opening day of last season and was back on the bench for the first time since last weekend, so expect the Argentine to receive a warm reception, should he feature here. Neither Tyrone Mings nor Boubacar Kamara will do so, however, as both are sidelined long-term.…Read more by Ben Gray
