Emery ‘makes Tielemans blunder’ in confirmed Aston Villa XI v Nottingham Forest
Unai Emery has named his Aston Villa starting lineup for their Premier League encounter with Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Aston Villa will go into the game on 5 April looking to extend their winning streak across all competitions to seven games after earning 3-0 victories in both of their matches after the international break.
Emery’s side have been named as the favourites to claim all three points, but they will be wary of the threats posed by Forest, who are nine points above them in third place.
With both teams vying for a remarkable top-four finish this season, the clash at Villa Park is guaranteed to be an entertaining one.
Emery makes Youri Tielemans blunder
However, with a UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie with Paris Saint-Germain coming up, Emery has understandably rung the changes to the team that beat Brighton on Wednesday, 2 April.
The former Arsenal boss has made a total of eight changes to his line-up, with the back four of Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne dropping out.
This means Villa have a new-look defence, with Andres Garcia, Axel Disasi, Tyrone Mings and Ian Maatsen.
Elsewhere, Emery has dropped Boubacar Kamara in favour of Amadou Onana.
Marco Asensio and Donyell Malen come in for Morgan Rogers and John McGinn, while Ollie Watkins replaces Marcus Rashford up front.
While Emery clearly has an eye on the Champions League tie with PSG, he could have perhaps given the new-look back four more protection by starting Kamara over Tielemans.
The double pivot of Tielemans and Onana may not be able to give Mings and Co. the protection they need.
Tielemans was one of the underwhelming performers against Brighton, winning only one of the three tackles he attempted (33 per cent), according to FotMob.
The Belgium international won four of his seven ground duels (57 per cent), but lost the only aerial duel he attempted.
The truth is, Tielemans does not get stuck in as much as needed in midfield, which may leave the back four exposed against Forest’s counter-attacking style of play.
In contrast, Kamara won each of his three tackles against Brighton, while also winning six of his 10 ground duels (60 per cent).
It would have been sensible for Kamara to start the game and then come off early, instead of starting on the bench altogether.
Aston Villa XI v Nottingham Forest
Emiliano Martinez continues in goal with Disasi and Mings playing in front of him. They are supported by Garcia and Maatsen on either side.
Onana partners Tielemans in the double pivot in midfield on this occasion, while Morgan Rogers, Malen and Asensio operate in advanced positions.
| Team | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goal Difference | Points |
| 3. Nottingham Forest | 30 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 57 |
| 7. Aston Villa | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | -1 | 48 |
Watkins leads the line despite Rashford’s goalscoring performance in midweek.
Emery has the likes of Rashford, McGinn, Digne and Kamara on the bench to bring on if things do not go according to plan against Forest.
The player availability is evidently proving to be a blessing for the Spaniard ahead of the showdown with PSG.