Unai Emery makes Tyrone Mings decision – Aston Villa XI confirmed v Liverpool
Unai Emery has made four changes to his starting XI as Aston Villa travel to the North West to face Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.
Following their bizarre 1-0 Champions League loss to Club Brugge in midweek, Emery has dropped Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen, Boubacar Kamara and captain John McGinn to the bench to face the Reds.
Villa posted their confirmed starting lineup on X (9 November), with Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Amadou Onana and Jacob Ramsey all returning to the XI as the visitors look to get back to winning ways.
Unai Emery makes all the right calls for Aston Villa v Liverpool
After Mings’ deliberate yet accidental handball in his box gifted Club Brugge the win from the penalty spot in midweek, it’s no surprise that Emery has taken the defender out of the firing line.
While Mings had been impressing on his European debut with seven defensive actions [FotMob], a zero per cent success rate for both tackles and aerial duels would be something easily exploited by Liverpool.
At left-back, Maatsen had impressed with a 94 per cent pass completion rate and five of seven duels won [FotMob], Digne’s dependability in the biggest games sees the Frenchman given the nod by Emery.
In midfield, Kamara starting ahead of Onana did appear to be a surprise, and after he won just three of his eight ground duels (38 per cent), the Belgian displacing him in the XI at Anfield is another wise call.
Ramsey’s return in place of McGinn comes after the Villa captain was withdrawn midway through the second have in Bruges, missing a big chance from close range and compiling just 0.16 expected assists.
Ollie Watkins is once again given the nod ahead of Jhon Duran up front despite feeding off scraps with just five touches in the Club Brugge box in midweek [FotMob], but five Premier League goals and two assists so far this season cannot be argued with.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans face competition for the signing of Pedro Goncalves amid Premier League interest.
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