Aston Villa ran Arsenal close in the Premier League this past weekend and were undone by a late goal by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Villa now shift their sights towards the League Cup where they face off against Premier League rivals Brighton on Wednesday night.
Villa strolled past Crewe in the second round of the League Cup, winning the game 6-1. Manager Dean Smith will probably make a few changes to the Aston Villa lineup and give opportunities to his fringe players on Wednesday.
PREDICTED ASTON VILLA LINEUP vs BRIGHTON (4-1-4-1)
Goalkeeper
Tom Heaton has started every Premier League game of the season for Villa, while Jed Steer played in the second round League Cup game. Steer will return between the sticks against Brighton in the Aston Villa lineup.
Defence
Villa’s first-choice centre-back pairing is likely to get a rest mid-week, with the duo of Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause replacing them. James Chester has returned from injury, but the game may come too soon for him. He will need a few minutes in reserve games before he is added to the senior squad.
At right-back, the experienced Ahmed Elmohamady could come in for Frédéric Guilbert, while Matt Targett could return to the side after being ruled out for a few games due to injury and will replace Neil Taylor at left-back.
Midfield
We could see more changes to the Villa team in the middle of the park, with Douglas Luiz coming in for Marvelous Nakamba, Conor Hourihane – who scored a brace in the second round of the League Cup, returning to the side in place of John McGinn, and Henri Lansbury replacing Jack Grealish in the team.
Hourihane and Lansbury were second-half substitutes in the game against Arsenal, while Luiz was not in the squad.
Attack
21-year-old Keinan Davis started the game against Crewe and he could return to the side once again as Jonathan Kodjia is still unavailable due to injury. Trezeguet had a good game against Arsenal and he could maybe retain his place on the left side of attack, while Jota – who was an unused substitute against the Gunners, could return to the side on the right.
