Unai Emery makes Ollie Watkins decision – Aston Villa XI confirmed v RB Leipzig
Unai Emery has made a brave decision to drop Jhon Duran for Ollie Watkins in the Champions League as Aston Villa travel to face RB Leipzig.
The Villans announced their team to face the Bundesliga outfit on X (10 December), which features three changes from the 1-0 win against Southampton.
The Spaniard will be keen to get back to winning ways in Europe’s elite competition after a draw against Juventus at Villa Park last time out.
With that in mind, Matty Cash, Lucas Digne and Watkins have come back into the starting XI while Leon Bailey, Ian Maatsen and Duran have dropped out.
Unai Emery in bold Jaden Philogene decision for Aston Villa v RB Leipzig
It is a busy period of the season for Villa but Emery doesn’t often experiment with his side too much and hasn’t done so at the Red Bull Arena.
Emi Martinez has maintained his spot in the starting XI after a quiet day’s work against the Saints, where he didn’t have to make a save but did keep up a 77 per cent pass accuracy [FotMob].
Ahead of him, Digne has come back into the side after winning 100 per cent of his duels after Maatsen completed 0 per cent of dribbles and crosses at Villa Park.
The Frenchman is set to be joined by Pau Torres and Diego Carlos, who have also kept their spots in the starting XI.
In a change of approach, it appears that Ezri Konsa will help form a back three after putting up an 89 per cent pass accuracy against Southampton.
Cash has also come in on the right wing in what could be a back five, unless the Poland international starts on the wing at the Red Bull Arena.
Emery has utilised the same central midfield duo from the win last time out with Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara also being joined by John McGinn once again. The Scotland international kept up an 85 per cent pass accuracy and won all of his attempted tackles in B6.
Bailey came off against the Saints through injury and is missing from the squad for the clash against Leipzig. It isn’t much of a surprise that Philogene hasn’t come in given that he had a zero per cent shot and cross-success rate last time out in a generally poor performance.
Moving forward, Morgan Rogers has also maintained his role in the side after winning five duels while also putting up 0.56 expected assists against Southampton.
A change has been utilised in the forward line with Jhon Duran dropping back to the bench to allow Ollie Watkins to come back in.
The Colombia international scored and maintained a 100 per cent shot accuracy last time out so this decision has come as a blow, despite not being a surprise.
In other Aston Villa news, fans will be drooling over embarrassing Jack Grealish footage that has emerged from Manchester City.
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