Aston Villa predicted line-up vs. Bournemouth: Three changes made with star midfielder missing

Aston Villa will look to build on huge wins over Arsenal and Lille when they take on Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth this Sunday, but Unai Emery will have to make do without at least six first-team players for the game at Villa Park.

Douglas Luiz and Alex Moreno are among the confirmed absentees for this weekend’s match, and there will also be concern over the condition of Italian winger Nicolò Zaniolo after he was withdrawn in the first half of Thursday’s penalty shootout win over Lille following an awkward fall.

We’ve collected all of the latest team news and injury updates for Villa ahead of Sunday’s game and ventured our best guess at Emery’s starting side below – and if you’re after some information for your Fantasy Premier League team, you can also catch our high-flying FPL coach’s latest advice column right here.

Goalkeeper & Defence

Spanish left-back Moreno missed the match against Lille with a “small calf injury” and is expected to be out of action for two to three weeks as a result, meaning he will miss this weekend’s game and likely the home game against Chelsea as well. The trip to Brighton in early May is a likely return date.

Lucas Digne will likely start in his stead, while the only other known absentee in the back line is Tyrone Mings, who continues his rehabilitation from an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in the first game of the season against Newcastle United. Poland international Matty Cash, meanwhile, has recovered from a recent hamstring problem and came through the entirety of Villa’s eventual win in the Europa League.ac

Midfield

The club have yet to provide any official updates on the condition of Zaniolo after he hobbled off the field in France on Thursday evening, meaning that it is impossible to say whether he is likely to play against Bournemouth as it stands. Emery’s Friday press conference may offer more information. Key midfielder Douglas Luiz will certainly miss out, however, with the Brazil international set to serve the second match of a two-game suspension for collecting ten yellow cards in the Premier League.

Luiz will be joined on the sidelines by three long-term injury concerns – Boubacar Kamara, Emiliano Buendía (both ACL) and Jacob Ramsey (toe) are all expected to miss the rest of the season. Former Marseille midfielder Kamara won’t be able to return to training until the autumn, while Ramsey and Buendía should be ready for action from the start of next season. James Tavernier will be absent for the visitors following a hamstring issue.

Forwards

There are no fresh injury problems up front, meaning that England international Ollie Watkins, who played all 120 minutes of Villa’s match against Lille in spite of recent worries over his fitness, should be fine to continue leading the line ahead of Jhon Durán.

Bournemouth, for their part, will be without striker Antoine Semenyo (calf) while winger Luís Sinisterra is a doubt thanks to a hamstring problem.

Full predicted line-up vs. Bournemouth

Martínez; Digne, Torres, Carlos, Konsa; Rogers, McGinn, Tielemans, Bailey; Diaby, Watkins.