After their loss to Southampton last weekend, Aston Villa face yet another club in a relegation battle when they host Norwich City at home. Their 1-3 loss to the Saints at home has taken the Villans into the bottom three, and another loss could take them further away from the rest.
Villa are 18th with 15 points from 18 games, while Norwich are 19th with 12 points from 18 games in the season so far.
The last time these two sides faced off, Villa ran away 5-1 winners in October but Dean Smith’s side are on a poor run of form this time around and might revert to a more conservative 4-1-4-1 from how they have been lining up in recent weeks.
Let’s take a look at the possible Aston Villa lineup manager Dean Smith may put out for Thursday night.
Team News
After the injury to key player Tyrone Mings, Villa were dealt another major injury blow as midfielder John McGinn suffered a fracture in the game against Southampton. He will be out for at least three months.
Goalkeeper Jed Steer and striker Keinan Davis will also be unavailable for the game against Norwich City.
PREDICTED ASTON VILLA LINEUP vs NORWICH CITY (4-1-4-1)
Goalkeeper
Tom Heaton should continue in goal for Aston Villa.
Defence
We could see Villa’s defence set up the same way that they did for the game against Southampton.
Björn Engels and Kortney Hause should start as the two central defenders, with the latter having a decent game last time around, despite the scoreline.
The full-backs should remain the same as well, with Frédéric Guilbert starting at right-back and Matt Targett starting at left-back for in the Aston Villa lineup.
Ahmed Elmohamady and Neil Taylor are other options at right-back and left-back respectively but are likelier options in the coming influx of fixtures.
Midfield
We could see a major change in Villa’s midfield for the visit of the Canaries.
John McGinn’s absence means that Marvellous Nakamba could get a start in midfield. Nakamba came on for McGinn against the Saints, but his costly error led to a goal for Southampton. It would be harsh though, to sideline him for that.
Douglas Luiz should retain his place, as should Conor Hourihane in the middle of the park in the Aston Villa lineup.
Attack
Wesley has been poor over the last few games and he could be replaced by Jonathan Kodjia upfront.
Jack Grealish should start on the left side in attacking midfield as he has been at his best in that position, while Trezeguet could get a start ahead of El Ghazi on the right side.
