Emery to axe Leon Bailey in three changes – Aston Villa predicted XI v Ipswich
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is preparing his side for the visit of Ipswich Town to Villa Park on Saturday.
The Villans will be keen to maintain their positive performance levels after picking up an excellent 2-1 against Tottenham in the FA Cup.
Despite losing to Wolves last time out in the Premier League, confidence appears to be high in the B6 camp after additions were made late on in the winter transfer window.
It will certainly be interesting how Emery opts to utilise his squad as the relegation-threatened Tractor Boys travel to the West Midlands on 15 February.
Axel Disasi to make Aston Villa debut v Ipswich Town
The Spanish head coach could be in line to make three changes to the side that beat Spurs in a move to keep his team fresh across the second half of the season.
Regardless of this, Emi Martinez is likely to start in goal once again after making four saves against the North London outfit, preventing 0.97 expected goals in B6 [FotMob].
Ahead of him, two changes could be made to welcome Ian Maatsen and Axel Disasi into the starting 11 in place of Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa.
Boubacar Kamara could feature as a makeshift centre-back once again after winning five duels against Spurs while Andres Garcia won 100 per cent of tackles and could make his second Premier League start.
The midfield could be set to have a familiar feel with Youri Tielemans and John McGinn likely to start behind Morgan Rogers, who created four chances against Spurs, the most on the pitch.
Leon Bailey could face Unai Emery axe v Ipswich Town
The England international combined with Jacob Ramsey for the opening goal and he could start on the left again after his goal and 96 per cent pass accuracy last time out.
One change to the forward line could see Bailey drop out for a rest after losing seven duels against the Lilywhites, winning just 40 per cent of his attempts. This could see Marco Asensio make his full debut after being a second-half substitute at Villa Park in the FA Cup.
Up front, Emery may once again utilise Donyell Malen who took three shots and impressed with his forward play against Ange Postecoglou’s side.