Aston Villa predicted XI v Fulham: Four changes, Unai Emery drops Jacob Ramsey
Aston Villa will be looking to return to winning ways against Fulham after their 2-1 loss against Manchester United over the weekend.
Unai Emery’s side travel south to the capital to take on Marco Silva’s team at Craven Cottage on Saturday, 17 February.
Villa could end the weekend in the top four if they get the right result in this one and Tottenham drop points against Wolves on Saturday.
Aston Villa could make as many as four changes
Emery will be forced into making one change at the very least as Boubacar Kamara ruptured his ACL and will be out for a significant period of time.
According to a doctor, the 24-year-old will not be back to a 100 per cent for the next 18 months, handing Villa a tremendous blow.
Given his absence, Youri Tielemans will be drafted into the playing eleven and this will be his chance to prove his worth.
He had a decent outing against United when he came off the bench as he made a key pass, had an 86 per cent pass accuracy, 100 per cent dribble success rate and won three out of four of his ground duels, per Sofascore.
Clement Lenglet, who had an accuracy of just 33 per cent with his long passes, could make way for Pau Torres, who’s recovered from an injury.
Lucas Digne has been Emery’s go to option at left-back this season, making 19 Premier League appearances and the game against the Red Devils was his only one off the bench in 2023/24 so there’s a strong possibility he returns to the playing eleven.
Jacob Ramsey’s return to the Aston Villa bench may force John McGinn out wide
Ramsey started the game against United on the left wing and was relatively underwhelming, losing 80 per cent of his ground duels.
He even failed to complete a single cross and Moussa Diaby returning to the XI in a number 10 role could see McGinn moving to the left wing.
Despite playing for just 25 minutes, he made a key pass over the weekend and gave Emery’s side a different dimension in attack.
In other Aston Villa news, the club may have suffered yet another injury blow as a first-team player could now be out longer than first feared.
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