Aston Villa start their FA Cup campaign by hosting West Ham United at Villa Park on Friday evening.
The Villans’ form in the Premier League have been patchy of late, winning two of their last five games. This has seen Unai Emery’s side drop to eighth in the table, although they won their last fixture against Leicester City.
The hardships of competing on all fronts with a small squad are beginning to show. Clearly, Villa have bigger priorities, battling away in the Premier and Champions League but a win over a struggling West Ham in the third round would be a boost.
Aston Villa Team News
Aston Villa skipper John McGinn went down with a hamstring injury in the 2-1 win over Leicester City and has been ruled out for weeks. In a bigger blow, Pau Torres has fractured his metatarsal and is going to be out for months.
Meanwhile, Jaden Philogene (unspecified knock) and Diego Carlos (foot) are expected to miss out on the West Ham cup tie. Morgan Rogers will return from suspension after sitting out the Leicester game.
Predicted Aston Villa lineup vs West Ham (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper
Emiliano Martinez is an undisputed starter in between the sticks for Aston Villa. There is no reason why the towering Argentinean will not start here.
Defence
In front of the World Cup-winning goalkeeper, Villa will line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation once again. Unai Emery will stick with Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings as his centre-back pairing with no room for rotation following injuries to Torres and Carlos.
Matty Cash is expected to retain his spot at right-back, but Ian Maatsen could get the nod ahead of Lucas Digne on the other side of the defence.
Midfield
Amadou Onana was an unused substitute in the win over Leicester City but certainly comes back into the side. The big Belgian may partner Boubacar Kamara at the heart of Villa’s midfield, with Ross Barkley acting as the creative glue from the No.10 role ahead of Youri Tielemans.
Villa’s midfielders will look to take control of the game as early as possible and feed the forwards in the final third. Ross Barkley should drop to the bench after starting against Leicester last time out.
Attack
Villa’s best player this season, Morgan Rogers walks straight back into Emery’s XI after serving a one-game suspension. The Englishman can give West Ham’s defence a lot of headache with his movement, direct running and incisive passing.
Rogers is a certainty to start on the left, with Leon Bailey—from off scoring the winner against Leicester—hoping to enjoy another productive night off the right. With Jhon Duran suspended, Ollie Watkins is a certainty to lead the Villa attack.
Tielemans, Emi Buendia and Jacob Ramsey should get opportunities to make a mark off the bench.
