Amadou Onana surprise decision made as Aston Villa XI confirmed v Leicester City
Unai Emery may regret his decision to leave Amadou Onana on the bench once again as Aston Villa prepare to face Leicester City on Saturday.
The Spaniard is forced into multiple changes for the clash at Villa Park on 4 January, with Pau Torres and Diego Carlos injured while Morgan Rogers and Jhon Duran are suspended.
This sees Matty Cash, Tyrone Mings and Ross Barkley all come into the lineup to face the Foxes, though midfield maestro Onana has been left on the bench once again [Official X account].
Villa were extremely overrun in the middle of the park during a 2-2 draw with Brighton last time out, which is why the Belgian’s absence is a baffling decision ahead of this game.
He came on for the final few minutes of the last game, completing 100 per cent of his passes, giving a little extra boost to his season average of 89 per cent [FotMob].
Leicester will be keen to claim their fourth win of the current Premier League campaign, and if the Villans are not careful enough, they could be the victims of an upset this weekend.
Amadou Onana stuck on bench for Aston Villa v Leicester City
Villa have no other option than getting back to winning ways in the Premier League, having lost 3-0 to Newcastle United before drawing 2-2 with Brighton last time out.
Leicester, who have lost their last four consecutive matches in the league, gives Emery’s side the best chance of this, but the manager has already thrown a spanner in the works.
Onana, with top 92, 83 and 85 percentile rankings in tackles, clearances and aerials won [FBref], it seems strange to leave him out, with Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara the duo to struggle against the Seagulls.
Kamara won just 25 per cent of his tackles at Villa Park last time out, with Tielemans not doing much better, winning just 57 per cent of his ground duels [FotMob].
While Leicester are one of the teams battling to avoid relegation this season, they should not be a team who are taken lightly. Every game should be taken seriously.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans are exploring other options following a £14.9million update from David Ornstein.
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