Jhon Duran and Leon Bailey to start as Aston Villa team news v Legia Warsaw predicted
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Alan Hutton predicts Unai Emery to change up his starting line-up for Aston Villa’s Europa Conference League clash with Legia Warsaw on Thursday night.
Villa will welcome the Polish club to Villa Park knowing that one point will be enough to see both sides secure their spots in the knock-out rounds.
However, if Villa fail to win, they will be unable to win Group E due to losing away at Legia in the opening group-stage fixture.
The Villans moved up to fourth in the Premier League with a comeback win over Tottenham on Sunday and ahead of the clash with Legia on Thursday (30 November), Hutton has predicted Jhon Duran and Leon Bailey to come in, claiming that Ollie Watkins should be left out.
“I’d like to see Emery go all out but I think he’ll rotate,” Hutton told Villa News.
“If you look at what he’s done in the past, Duran has usually come in for Watkins, who needs a rest.
“You cannot rely on him for every single minute in every single game.
“Bailey will also come in.
“With the players who’ll come in, it’ll still be a strong team but they know they need to go and win to finish top of the group.
“Emery will want to go and win but I know if you look at the first few games in the competition, the rotation didn’t work out quite as well and there were question marks about why he was doing it and not going for it. But Emery will feel his squad has got enough so that he can really go and challenge.
“I believe they’ll win but they’ll also rotate.”
In other Aston Villa news, it is “done” for this central midfielder to quit Villa Park with a permanent transfer deal already agreed.