Aston Villa predicted line-up vs. Liverpool: four changes made with key defensive player a doubt
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Aston Villa’s top four credentials will be put to the test on Saturday evening when they make the trip to Anfield to face league leaders Liverpool – and Unai Emery will be missing at least two players through injury.
A disappointing midweek defeat to Club Brugge in the Champions League did at least offer both Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings the chance to get some more minutes under their belt as they recover from serious injuries - even if Mings didn’t use the time productively given that he conceded the game’s decisive penalty in bizarre fashion after picking the ball up inside his own penalty area.
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Hide AdWe’ve got all of the latest team news and injury updates below alongside our predicted line-up for what could prove to be a crucial match. If you’re here looking for updates ahead of the Fantasy Premier League transfer deadline, incidentally, you can also find our resident expert’s latest advice column by clicking here.
Goalkeeper & Defence
Aston Villa will likely be without one defender for the game at Liverpool, with right-back Matty Cash facing an uphill battle to recover from a calf injury that he picked up in the damaging 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. The Poland international was substituted in the second half after taking a hit from Cristian Romero and didn’t recover in time to face Club Brugge.
Assuming he is ruled out, Ezri Konsa is likely to move across to right-back with Diego Carlos expected to partner Pau Torres in the centre of the defence instead of Mings, whose minutes are still being managed after more than a year on the sidelines due to an ACL injury sustained on the opening day of the 2023/24 season. Recent selections suggest that Emery is relatively unlikely to risk playing youngsters like Lamar Bogarde and Kosta Nedeljković from the start.
Midfield
Ross Barkley also won’t feature against Liverpool because of the same unspecified knock which kept him out of the defeats to Spurs and Club Brugge. He is expected to return to full fitness after the forthcoming international break, with Emery telling the media that he would be out for “a few weeks”.
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Hide AdBoubacar Kamara, meanwhile, is pushing for a first league start since November last year, although having played a full 90 minutes in midweek it is likely that Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans continue to start ahead of him for now. The Frenchman will most probably start on the bench.
Forwards
Emery’s squad has a clean bill of health up front, with Ollie Watkins likely to start ahead of Jhon Durán once more despite the young Colombian’s remarkable goal=scoring form. An knock sustained by Morgan Rogers last weekend proved not to be a significant problem, and having started in midweek he is expected to be able to play a full part at Anfield in the supporting role behind Watkins.
Martínez; Digne, Torres, Carlos, Konsa; Tielemans, Onana; Ramsey, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins.
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