Newly-promoted side Aston Villa have been the busiest team in the Premier League ahead of the 2019-20 season, signing (h/t Transfermarkt) 12 players for a combined transfer fee of close to €150 million. Manager Dean Smith will have a new-look squad after releasing 10 players following promotion to the Premier League.
Villa begin their campaign away from home when they face Tottenham Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday, 10 August. The Villans had a good pre-season, winning all five of their pre-season games, including an impressive win against RB Leipzig in their final pre-season game.
With such an overhauled squad, manager Smith has several options to choose from in each position, but the core of the team could be composed of those players that were integral in last season’s campaign. Let’s take a look at the predicted XI for Aston Villa’s first game against the Lilywhites.
PREDICTED ASTON VILLA LINEUP vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-1-4-1)
Goalkeeper
New signing Tom Heaton will start in goal for Villa after playing against RB Leipzig last week. The 33-year-old experienced keeper moved from Burnley to Villa last week and is expected to add stability and leadership to the Villa defence.
Defence
Villa bought four centre-backs in the summer – Tyrone Mings, who was on loan last season, Ezri Konsa, Bjorn Engels, and Kortney Hause. Mings and Engels started in defence against RB Leipzig, while Konsa started alongside Mings against Charlton in another pre-season friendly. Mings will be a constant figure in the Villa backline, and against Spurs, he will most likely start with Engels alongside him.
At right-back, January signing Frédéric Guilbert will get his first Premier League start, while another new signing, Matt Targett – who was signed from Southampton, will start at left-back.
Midfield
Villa have signed two exciting central midfielders – Marvelous Nakamba from Club Brugge and Douglas Luiz from Manchester City. But neither of them is likely to start against Spurs as Smith could retain the trio of Conor Hourihane, John McGinn, and Jack Grealish in the middle of the park. The trio were impressive for Villa last season in the Championship and could retain their places.
Attack
The newly-promoted club have also signed a few wingers – Jota, Trezeguet, and Anwar El Ghazi, who returns to the club on a permanent deal after his loan spell last season. Against Spurs, we could see El Ghazi and Trezeguet start on the right and left respectively, to hit Spurs on the counter-attack.
Upfront, club-record signing Wesley Moraes will get his first taste of English football against Spurs.
