Aston Villa: ‘Chaos Twins’ to start as Ollie Watkins misses out v Manchester City
Aston Villa are without Ollie Watkins for the trip to face Manchester City and Ty Bracey believes there are many options for his replacement.
At halftime against Wolves on 30 March, Watkins was substituted due to what has been confirmed to be a hamstring injury.
It was confirmed by the club and Unai Emery via X that the England international will miss out against Manchester City.
This means the Villans will be without their talisman at the Eithad which leaves a void which needs to be filled.
Bracey appeared confident and had plenty of solutions which could be utilised to give Villa the best chance against Pep Guardiola’s side.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bracey said: “I expect to see the ‘Chaos Twins’ to be fair. I think you’ll get Jhon Duran up top and I think we’ll see Zaniolo, he looked when he came off the bench the other day so I reckon he might get a run.
“With Ollie Watkins being injured, Moussa Diaby is now the only player who’s been in the matchday squad for every Premier League game. He’s found some confidence and some form recently and I’m over the moon for him.
“We know it’s tough for a player to hit the ground running and you know, Unai Emery is a very demanding manager. Bailey’s in great form, Diaby’s in form and Zaniolo looked good when he came on so he’s got some tough decisions to make. You never know Duran might not end up playing and you might end up with one of those guys playing up top.”
Who should Aston Villa instead of Ollie Watkins vs Man City?
As shown by Bracey, there are plenty of options at the disposal of Emery that he could opt for at the home of the Champions.
It must be said that the work rate of Watkins isn’t going to be easy to replace. Last campaign he covered 342.34km which was the most at the club [Premier League].
There is no shortage of players who look to be in good form in B6 with Diaby clocking four goal involvements in March. Add to this the improved performances of Duran and Zaniolo in recent weeks, there is positivity there.
Emery can be confident that whoever he decides to start will give their all and push towards a win against the treble winners. Three points would certainly help solidify a spot in the Premier League top four.
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