Aston Villa will entertain Birmingham City on Sunday in what promises to be a highly entertaining West Midlands derby at Villa Park. The Villans are in terrific form in the league and have won their last six matches in the Skybet Championship. Steve Bruce’s men are currently sitting in third place in the league table and are well on their way to secure a playoff spot at the end of the season. However, the Villa manager can push his players to chase down Derby County, who are currently sitting just a point above them in second place, in their quest to earn a promotion back to the Premier League. It makes it essential for the Villans to pick up maximum points against the Blues of West Midlands this weekend to boost their chances ahead of a busy few months in their Championship campaign.
The recent history of the fixture makes a grim reading for the visitors as Birmingham have not tasted victory in any of their previous five meetings with the Villans. Steve Bruce is expected to stick with his favoured 4-1-4-1 formation and might name an unchanged side for this clash.
4-1-4-1 Aston Villa Predicted Lineup To Face Birmingham City
Defence
Sam Johnstone will start in goal for Villa and might be protected by a back four of James Chester and John Terry in central defence while Ahmed Elmohamady plays at right-back and Alan Hutton operates on the left side of the backline.
The Villans defence has kept four clean sheets in their last six league matches and Villa boss Steve Bruce will be hoping that his backline can keep the Birmingham City attack at bay on Sunday.
Midfield
Birkir Bjarnason is expected to be deployed as a deep-lying holding midfielder while Jack Grealish and Conor Hourihane operate in front of the Icelandic midfielder at the centre of the park. Grealish got his name on the scoresheet against Burton Albion in their last league outing and will hope to repeat the feat during the West Midlands derby as well.
The club’s top scorer Albert Adomah will start on the left flank and hope to add to his goal tally of 13 goals in this campaign. Robert Snodgrass will look to cut in on his stronger left foot and create some chances while operating on the right side of the midfield. Snodgrass scored the winner versus Sheffield United a few weeks ago to make the difference on the night so he will be a threat to the Birmingham City defence.
Attack
Scott Hogan is expected to the lead the lines for the Villans up top. He has scored three goals in his last three league appearances and will be looking to better his record when he laces up to take on the Blues defence this weekend.
