Aston Villa will entertain Burton Albion at Villa Park on Saturday at the back of five successive victories in the league. Steve Bruce’s men are currently occupying third place in the English Championship standings and are well on their way to secure a playoff spot at the end of the season. However, Steve Bruce can push his players to chase down Derby County, who are currently sitting just a point above them in second place, in their quest to earn a promotion back to the Premier League. It makes it crucial for his players to pick up maximum points against the Brewers this weekend to boost their chances ahead of a busy few months in their Championship season.
The recent history of the fixture makes a grim reading for the visitors as they have not tasted victory in any of their previous three meetings with the Villans. Steve Bruce is expected to stick with his favoured 4-1-4-1 formation and may choose to deploy the same side which saw off Sheffield United in their last league outing.
4-1-4-1 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup To Face Burton
Defence
Sam Johnstone will start in goal for Villa and might be shielded by a back four of James Chester and John Terry in central defence while Ahmed Elmohamady plays at right-back and Alan Hutton operates on the left side of the backline.
The Villans defence has kept four clean sheets in their last five league matches and Steve Bruce will be hoping that his back four can keep the Burton attack at bay on Saturday.
Midfield
Birkir Bjarnason is expected to be deployed as a deep-lying holding midfielder while Jack Grealish and Conor Hourihane operate in front of the Icelandic midfielder at the centre of the park.
The club’s top scorer Albert Adomah will start on the left flank and hope to add to his goal tally of 12 goals in this campaign. Robert Snodgrass will look to cut in on his stronger left foot and create some chances while operating on the right side of the midfield. Snodgrass scored the winner versus the Blades in their last match to make the difference on the night so he will a threat to the Burton defence.
Attack
Scott Hogan is expected to the lead the lines for the Villans once again up top. He has scored two goals in his last two league appearances and will be looking to better his record when he laces up to take on the Burton defence this weekend.
