Aston Villa shared points with Bristol City after their 1-1 draw on Friday. So far this campaign in the Championship, Steve Bruce’s men have been inconsistent. To carve their way back to the Premier League, they have to up the ante from here onwards.
At the moment, they are placed at the 15th spot in the league table with 14 points to their name after 10 games. Bruce’s side are due to host Preston North End at the Villa Park in a couple of hours and there is no denying that they will be gunning for all 3 points today.
Scott Hogan is still a few days away from making his return from his groin injury. Doubt persists over the availability of Tammy Abraham who suffered a calf injury in the last game. Meanwhile, Keinan Davis and Harry McKirdy are a few weeks away from their comebacks.
Orjan Nyland hasn’t been impressive so far and has to repay the faith shown by Steve Bruce in him. Ahmed Elmohamady is expected to get the nod to start in the right-back position instead of Axel Tuanzebe this time around, with Alan Hutton on the opposite flank.
Mile Jedinak and James Chester are likely to work together in central defence once again. Both of them have fared really well together. In 10 league appearances, Chester has registered 1 successful tackle and 7.9 clearances per game on an average, which is really impressive.
John McGinn and Birkir Bjarnason are expected to be stationed in central midfield. McGinn has looked fantastic after his arrival in the summer and has to carry on his solid form. The Scot has scored 1 goal and registered 2 assists in 9 league outings.
Bjarnason found the back of the net against the Robins and he will be craving to make a similar impact against the Lilywhites. Conor Hourihane’s creative and offensive prowess should see him being used as the no.10 yet again and he definitely needs to make his presence felt.
Yannick Bolasie looked lively after coming off the bench and is in line to make his first start today. Jack Grealish hasn’t really lived up to the expectations so far this season but he is expected to start on the left wing.
Owing to the uncertainty regarding Abraham, we expect Bruce to use Jonathan Kodjia as the centre-forward. The 28-year-old is a decent prospect up top and with 4 goals and 1 assist to his name from 10 appearances in the Championship, he will be keen to improve his tally.
Statistics Credits: WhoScored
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