Aston Villa will clash heads with Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium on Tuesday night hoping to progress into the third round of the EFL Cup by picking up a win on the road. The Villans managed to secure a hard-fought 1-0 win over Manchester United in a friendly game last weekend which will keep them in high spirits heading into this midweek showdown versus the Staffordshire outfit.
Dean Smith will probably stick with his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation and might be inclined to name an unchanged team for this upcoming cup clash away from home.
4-2-3-1 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup To Face Burton Albion
Defence
Jed Steer is expected to feature in goal for Villa after he kept an impressive clean sheet versus the Red Devils last Saturday. Ezri Konsa will partner Tyrone Mings at the heart of the Villans backline as they try to restrict the opposition from scoring in midweek.
Matty Cash could get the nod to start at right-back while Matt Targett tries to produce another industrious performance as the left-back. Both of them need to get forward at every opportunity they can get so that they can create some decent chances to score in the final third.
Ahmed Elmohamady should be available for selection on the bench and could come on to influence the game in the second 45 minutes if required.
Midfield
Douglas Luiz will anchor the midfield along with Conor Hourihane as they focus on establishing Aston Villa’s dominance at the centre of the park. The talented trio of Jack Grealish, John McGinn and Trezeguet will operate just ahead of them with the hope of orchestrating some decent opportunities to score in and around the opponent’s penalty box.
Jota will have to settle for a spot on the bench, but could get a chance to make an impact on the field if needed.
Attack
Ollie Watkins will once again get the responsibility to lead the charge for the West Midlands outfit down the middle. He scored the only goal of the game versus Man United last weekend, so he will be full of confidence heading into this midweek contest away at Staffordshire.
Mbwana Samatta will make up the numbers on the bench as he awaits his chance to shine as an impact substitute later in the game.
