Aston Villa will lock horns with Manchester City at the Villa Park on Wednesday night, hoping to pick up a positive result on their home turf. The Villans will be heading into the contest on the back of a disappointing 2-1 loss to Liverpool, whereas the away side recorded a 1-0 loss against Chelsea in the FA Cup.
Dean Smith will probably opt for the 4-3-3 formation with a couple of tweaks from the last game. Morgan Sanson might get the nod over Marvelous Nakamba, whereas Anwar El Ghazi looks likely to make his way back into the starting eleven.
4-3-3 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup Vs Manchester City
Defence
Emiliano Martinez will continue to operate in between the sticks for the upcoming home encounter. The ex-Arsenal shot-stopper made some good saves against Liverpool last week, but he’ll be hoping to secure a clean sheet this time.
Ezri Konsa will form the centre-half partnership with Tyrone Mings at the heart of Villans’ backline.
Matt Targett is a guaranteed starter at the left-back position, whereas Matty Cash will fill in on the other flank as the right-back. The full-backs will be expected to stay compact and keep their shape defensively.
Midfield
Douglas Luiz and John McGinn will fulfil the holding midfield positions, with the former occupying a more defensive role to shield the away side’s back-four.
Morgan Sanson will slot into the attacking midfield role. However, Jack Grealish looks set to miss his ninth consecutive game this week.
“Myself and Jack were quite optimistic to get him back a bit sooner than he probably should, and he has had a setback that will probably put him back a couple of weeks.” – Smith revealed.
Attack
Trezeguet, who picked up an injury at Anfield last week, looks set for a spell on the sidelines.
As a result, Anwar El Ghazi and Bertrand Traore are expected to take up the wide positions, playing on the left and right-wing respectively.
Ollie Watkins will lead the line for the hosts against Pep Guardiola’s men. The ex-championship striker will be hoping to find the back of the net when he faces off against the City defence that has kept two clean sheets in their last five league matches.
