Pundit shares fresh Unai Emery selection verdict ahead of Aston Villa FA Cup showdown v Chelsea
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…
Unai Emery will have to name his strongest starting XI for the FA Cup clash between Aston Villa and Chelsea to maintain his side’s momentum, according to Alan Hutton.
Villa make the trip to Stamford Bridge on Friday (26 January) for their fourth-round clash in what will be their first fixture after the Premier League winter break, having drawn 0-0 in their last outing away to Everton.
Emery made a couple of changes to his starting XI for the third-round tie with Middlesbrough, with the likes of Jhon Duran and Jacob Ramsey featuring from the off while regular starters Ollie Watkins, Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby were introduced from the bench.
However, Hutton doesn’t believe that the Aston Villa boss can afford to rest and rotate his side again on Friday night, encouraging Emery to name a “full strength” side to book Villa’s place in the fifth round.
“I can’t see changes,” Hutton told Villa News.
“They’ve had an opportunity to obviously rest and recover a little bit, a little bit of downtime so all being good if everybody is feeling well and fit, I think he’ll go full strength, I think he has to.
“Obviously, with how they’ve done this season they’ll want to just kick on and keep going with the momentum and confidence that they have so I don’t see too many changes.
“He very rarely makes too many changes so it will be a full-strength team.”
Villa beat Chelsea 1-0 in the Premier League meeting at the Bridge earlier this season thanks to a second-half strike from Watkins and Emery will be hoping that his side are able to pull off a similar result under the lights on Friday night.
The Spaniard’s side then face a quick turnaround as they’re back in Premier League action on Tuesday (30 January) when they welcome Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United to Villa Park as they look to keep the pace with the title challengers.
In other Aston Villa news, Hutton has shared his verdict on a potential January exit for Jhon Duran amid interest from West Ham
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