Aston Villa v Wolves predicted XI – Unai Emery to make Jhon Duran call after Watkins development
Aston Villa will look to make it three Premier League wins in a row as they face Wolves in a Midlands derby on Saturday (21 September).
The Villans kicked off their Champions League campaign in style with a 3-0 win against Young Boys on Tuesday (17 September).
Unai Emery’s side also won their last league game with an excellent comeback win against Everton thanks to a Jhon Duran screamer.
Having played a game in midweek, the Spaniard may look to rotate his squad to keep legs fresh with an EFL Cup clash at Wycombe Wanderers also on the horizon.
Whether or not changes are made for the Wolves clash, Emi Martinez is likely to start in goal after his first clean sheet of the season in Europe.
It will be interesting to see who features at right back after Lamare Bogarde struggled against Young Boys, winning just 33 per cent of his tackles and three duels [FotMob]. Emery may maintain faith in the 20-year-old.
In the centre of defence, Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa are likely to reprise their roles after helping the Villans to a clean sheet in Bern.
Ian Maatsen has earned his plaudits with 100 per cent tackles and duels won off the bench in the Champions League [FotMob] but Lucas Digne still deserves to start against Wolves.
Unai Emery could rest Amadou Onana for Aston Villa v Wolves
Amadou Onana has had a terrific start to the campaign in claret and blue but could be deserving of a rest from the start at Villa Park on Saturday (21 September).
This could see Ross Barkley start his first game since returning to the club after a positive showing against Everton with a 98 per cent pass accuracy [FotMob]. Youri Tielemans could keep his place after a goal in the Champions League in midweek.
Out wide, John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey are likely to keep their places in the starting XI with the latter opening his account for the season against Young Boys.
Ahead of them, Emery could continue to show faith in Morgan Rogers who has had a superb opening to the new campaign. Despite not scoring or assisting, his 80 per cent dribble success in Europe was excellent to watch [FotMob].
Ollie Watkins came off injured in Switzerland which could pose the perfect opportunity for Duran to start for the first time this season.
The Colombia international has a better goals per 90 rate than Erling Haaland this campaign with 2.62 compared to the Manchester City star’s 2.26 [FotMob].
In other Aston Villa news, one academy star is surely pushing for his debut after the latest contract development.
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