Aston Villa will lock horns with West Brom at the Villa Park on Sunday 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 Manchester City, whereas the Baggies recorded a 3-0 loss against Leicester City in midweek.
Dean Smith will probably opt for the 4-3-3 formation with a couple of tweaks from the last game as Anwar El Ghazi looks likely to make his way back into the starting eleven.
4-3-3 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup Vs West Brom Albion
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 Manchester City in midweek, 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 Ahmed Elmohamady 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.
Marvelous Nakamba will slot into the central midfield role. However, Jack Grealish looks set to miss his tenth consecutive game this weekend.
Dean Smith revealed Grealish is set for another scan next week.
“There’s not really a timeline (on his injury) as such.” – The English coach stated.
“He’s due to have a scan next week. Hopefully, that clears it up, and we go full board with training. We will be guided by the time and the medical practitioners.”
Attack
Trezeguet, who picked up an injury at Anfield a couple of weeks ago, 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 Sam Allardyce’s men. The ex-championship striker will be hoping to find the back of the net when he faces off against the West Brom defence that has kept two clean sheets in their last five league matches.
