Youri Tielemans and Jhon Duran tipped to start in Aston Villa clash v Legia Warsaw
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Alan Hutton believes Youri Tielemans and Jhon Duran could both start for Aston Villa when they take on Legia Warsaw on Thursday night.
Unai Emery’s men head to Poland for the opening match of their Europa Conference League group stage campaign after knocking Hibernian out in the qualifiers.
It’ll be the first time Villa have played in the group stages of a European competition since the 2008/09 UEFA Cup.
Hutton believes that although the Conference League is a competition Aston Villa could aim to win this season, Emery is likely to use some of his fringe players in the group stages.
The ex-Scotland right-back believes he could hand both Tielemans, 26, and Duran, 19, their second competitive start as Villa players.
When asked by Villa News if he thinks Tielemans will start against Legia, Hutton said: “Possibly. I think there are opportunities there for players to start in the Conference League.
“I don’t want to say it’s not at a high level or anything but when you see Roma and West Ham winning it, it’s a trophy that teams will want to go for. Villa will be the exact same and they’ll feel they can win this.
“I do think it’s an opportunity where they can mix the team up and rotate things, especially in the group stages so you might see the likes of Tielemans start.
“Duran came on the other day and did really well so that could give Ollie Watkins the opportunity for a rest.
“They have got strength in depth now with Leon Bailey coming in off the bench and Moussa Diaby has been absolutely outstanding. Whether he needs a rest with the view to bigger games in the Premier League, we’ll see.”
Duran scored his third goal of the season on Saturday as Villa came from behind to win 3-1 away at Crystal Palace.
Tielemans has played in every game this season after joining from Leicester on a free transfer in the summer. However, his only start was in the second leg of the Conference League play-off round against Hibs.
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