Aston Villa will entertain Newcastle United at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon as they hope to grab maximum points at home. The Villans were beaten by Watford by a narrow 3-2 scoreline at Vicarage Road in the opening weekend of this Premier League campaign, so Dean Smith will be eager to get a positive response from his players versus the Magpies this weekend.
The West Midlands outfit could set themselves up in a 4-4-2 formation as Smith looks to make a couple of tweaks to his first XI for this game. Both Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey are expected to start at the expense of Anwar El Ghazi and Ashley Young.
4-4-2 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup To Face Newcastle United
Defence
Emiliano Martinez will feature in between the sticks for the Villans as he looks to keep things solid at the back versus Newcastle this weekend. Ezri Konsa will get another chance to impress alongside Tyrone Mings at the centre of Dean Smith’s defence. Both of them will have to find a way to keep Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin quiet during the 90 minutes.
Matty Cash will get the nod to operate at right-back while Matt Targett fills in on the other flank as the left-back. Smith will instruct them to maintain a good defensive shape and also, make some overlapping runs in the final third.
Axel Tuanzebe will have to be content with a place on the bench as he provided cover for the defensive positions.
Midfield
Marvelous Nakamba will anchor the midfield along with John McGinn as the hard-working duo try to establish their superiority over the opposition at the centre of the park. Leon Bailey will finally get an opportunity to catch the eye down the left wing while Emiliano Buendia looks to cause some problems for the Newcastle defenders from the right.
Jacob Murphy and Bertrand Traore will be available for selection on the Villans bench but might come on to influence the game in the second 45 minutes if required.
Attack
Ollie Watkins will be given the license to spearhead Smith’s attack alongside Danny Ings up top if the English frontman can pass a late fitness test. The Villa supporters would hope that both forwards end up forming a decent attacking partnership so that they can collectively carry most of the goal-scoring workload for the Midlands giants in the final third.
