Aston Villa will entertain Arsenal at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon looking to bounce back by acquiring all three points at home. The Villans tasted a bitter 3-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham United in midweek, which has halted their momentum ahead of this weekend’s clash versus the Gunners.
Dean Smith will probably opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation and is expected to name Bertrand Traore in his starting XI. Anwar El Ghazi is likely to be the one who drops to the bench. Otherwise, the West Midlands outfit will be relatively unchanged for this exciting Premier League game later this week.
4-2-3-1 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup To Face Arsenal
Defence
Emiliano Martinez will retain his spot in goal for the Villans despite shipping in three poor goals against the Hammers in his last league outing. Ezri Konsa will again line up alongside Tyrone Mings at the centre of Smith’s defence as they try to keep the Arsenal attackers quiet during the 90 minutes.
Matty Cash will be a nailed-on starter at right-back while Matt Targett gets another shot to catch the eye on the other flank as the left-back. Smith will ask both of them to pick and choose their moments to join in on the attack so that they can limit the chances Arsenal create out on the wide areas.
Bjorn Engels and Neil Taylor will make up the numbers on the Villa bench as they provide cover for the defensive positions.
Midfield
Douglas Luiz will anchor the midfield along with John McGinn this weekend. The dynamic duo will focus on making life difficult for the Gunners at the centre of the park. Jack Grealish will be a guaranteed starter on the left flank and is expected to be Villa’s best creative outlet in the opposition half. Ross Barkley will resume his duties in the number ten position while Bertrand Traore comes into the side to function as a right-sided wide player.
Anwar El Ghazi, Trezeguet and Morgan Sanson will be available for selection on the bench but could come on to freshen things up in the second half if required.
Attack
Ollie Watkins will spearhead the Villans attack in the attacking third of the pitch. He managed to get his name on the scoresheet in midweek, which will keep him in high spirits going into this weekend’s encounter against Mikel Arteta’s men.
