Dan Bardell: ‘Minimal’ Aston Villa changes expected for ‘toughest’ challenge Legia Warszawa
We’re delighted to welcome Sky Sports journalist Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist as each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Unai Emery will make minimal changes to his Aston Villa squad ahead of their Europa Conference League opener against Legia Warszawa, but the Polish outfit will provide the “toughest” challenge in the group stage, according to Dan Bardell.
With Villa’s new-found depth, the early stages of the Europa Conference League have been tipped as a chance for Emery to get some minutes under the lesser-utilised players. The likes of Youri Tielemans, Calum Chambers Leander Dendoncker will be hoping to make an impact on the side in UEFA’s tertiary European competition.
Aston Villa kick off their long-awaited return to group-stage European football in the Polish capital, a clash many expect the Villans to breeze past. Emery’s side will be brimming with confidence after their late comeback against Crystal Palace as their 3-1 victory extended their unbeaten home form to nine games.
However, Bardell has admitted that the away fixture against Legia Warszawa could prove the biggest challenge to the Villans on the group stages, meaning that “minimal” alterations will be made to the starting XI in hopes the club get their international return off to the best start.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said: “I think Emery will try and make minimal changes for the game. He won’t want to disrupt the side too much, so there may be one or two changes.
“It won’t be wholesale like the [second-leg of the] Hibernian game, but he will go relatively strong.
“I actually think the game on Thursday is the toughest Villa have got [in the group stage]. It will be a lot closer than people think. Arguably, it’s the toughest game Villa have.”
In other Aston Villa news, an injury expert has tipped a long-term injury as a possibility for Villa’s European opener.