Aston Villa will take on Arsenal as they welcome them to Villa Park on Saturday afternoon hoping to give a fierce competition this weekend. The Villans will come into the match on the back of a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City in their last outing, so they will be looking to bounce back and perform better against the League leaders.
Unai Emery will probably opt for a 4-4-2 formation and is expected to name a strong first XI for this home encounter. Tyrone Mings could recover just in time to replace Calum Chambers in the match-day squad while Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey continue to lead the charge for the West Midlands outfit.
4-4-2 Aston Villa Predicted XI Vs Arsenal
Defence
Emiliano Martinez will continue to operate in goal for his side hoping to keep a clean sheet in this weekend’s encounter. Ezri Konsa will function alongside Tyrone Mings at the heart of Villa’s backline as they try to keep the opposition attackers at bay throughout the game.
Ashley Young will take the right-back position while Lucas Digne looks to operate on the opposite flank. Both of them will get forward and join in on the attack while keeping a solid defensive shape at the back to stop the opposition from creating too many chances from the wide areas.
Alex Moreno and Calum Chambers will take a spot on the bench to provide cover for the defensive positions.
Midfield
Boubacar Kamara and Douglas Luiz will keep their places to anchor the midfield for Unai Emery’s side as they try to dominate the opposition at the centre of the park.
Jacob Ramsey and Emi Buendia will feature on the right and left flank respectively operating from the middle as they look to provide support from the wide areas and try to create opportunities in front of the goal.
Leon Dendoncker and Matty Cash will have to settle for a spot on the bench as they wait for their chance to impress in the second half if Emery decides to call upon his services.
Attack
As mentioned earlier, Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey will form a two-man strike team to lead the charge for the Villans. Both of them will fancy their chances of finding the back of the net against the opposition’s defence.
Phillipe Coutinho will have to be content with a place on the bench and might come on to influence the game in the final quarter of the match if the West Midlands club are in need of a goal by then.
