Aston Villa will entertain Stoke City at Villa Park on Thursday evening hoping to continue their good form in domestic competitions. The Villans have made a great start to this new campaign as they have won four consecutive matches recently. The West Midlands side are set to make a lot of tweaks for this game with both Neil Taylor and Keinan Davis expected to return to Dean Smith’s starting XI.
Smith will opt for a 4-3-3 formation as he hopes that some of his fringe players would be able to step up and give a good account of themselves in midweek.
4-3-3 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup To Face Stoke City
Defence
Jed Steer will operate in goal for the Villans after he secured a clean sheet versus Bristol City in the previous round of the EFL Cup. Ahmed Elmohamady will partner Kortney Hause at the heart of Smith’s defence as they look to keep things tight at the back and earn another shutout at home in midweek.
Frédéric Guilbert will fill in at right-back while Neil Taylor looks to produce another tireless shift as the left-back. Both of them will need to be a bit more creative than usual so that they can offer some good service for their teammates up top.
Tyrone Mings will provide cover for the defensive positions on the bench as he gets a well-deserved rest following his heavy involvement versus Fulham last weekend.
Midfield
Jacob Ramsey, Marvelous Nakamba and Henri Lansbury will make up the Aston Villa midfield on Thursday. The hard-working trio needs to pass the ball accurately if they are to establish their dominance at the centre of the park. Smith will also depend on them to cook up some decent goal-scoring chances in the Stoke City half.
John McGinn and Conor Hourihane will be available for selection on the bench and could feature as the impact substitutes later in the game if required.
Attack
The Villa frontline will be comprised of Anwar El Ghazi, Keinan Davis and Bertrand Traoré as they focus on interchanging possession with each other to orchestrate some meaningful openings inside the opponent’s penalty box.
Trezeguet will have to settle for a place on the bench as he awaits his opportunity to shine as a second-half substitute if Smith decides to call upon his services.
