Aston Villa Champions League qualification could give chance to Omari Kellyman v Crystal Palace
Unai Emery could potentially hand Omari Kellyman a start for Aston Villa against Crystal Palace after Champions League qualification was secured on Tuesday (14 May).
Next season the Villans will play in Europe’s elite competition for the first time in over 40 years as Tottenham’s defeat v Man City meant a guaranteed fourth-place finish.
A brace from Erling Haaland meant that Ange Postecoglou’s side could no longer reach Villa with just one Premier League game remaining.
The final game sees Villa travel to face Crystal Palace and with their position already sorted, Emery could hand some minutes to fringe and young players.
Omari Kellyman could start for Aston Villa v Crystal Palace
The Villans are guaranteed to finish in fourth and can not move any higher so a rotated squad could be utilised at Selhurst Park.
This could see Emery gift a first Premier League start to Kellyman who has featured off the bench five times this season.
The 18-year-old has made just one substitute appearance in the Premier League as he replaced Nicolo Zaniolo against Man City (3 April).
In his 13-minute cameo, he gave a good account of himself despite playing against the best side in the division.
He had five touches and made three passes with a 75 per cent accuracy while he also had a shot which was blocked on the edge of the area [FotMob].
Kellyman had a similar showing against Olympiacos away in the Conference League where he played just four minutes. He won an aerial duel with a 100 per cent win rate which is a positive [FotMob].
Given that there is nothing riding on the game against Crystal Palace, the youngster could be thrown in for a start.
In other Aston Villa news, Unai Emery could be tempted to accept ‘ridiculous’ Emi Martinez bid.
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