St. Louis City v Aston Villa preview: Team news, lineups, prediction
Aston Villa continue their tour of the United States with a friendly against St. Louis City on Wednesday.
Unai Emery’s side travel to Energizer Park hoping to pick up their first win of a difficult pre-season schedule.
Below, Villa News shares the latest team news and offer our prediction for the game.
Aston Villa team news
Marco Bizot is predicted to start in goal, as Emi Martinez’s future at Villa Park remains in doubt.
A strong starting XI is expected for the game though, with Ollie Watkins likely to lead the line for the Villans once again.
There were no fresh injury concerns after the 2-2 draw with Frankfurt in Louisville.
Ross Barkley and Andres Garcia weren’t taken on the tour due to their injuries, while the likes of Alex Moreno, Leander Dendoncker, Lewis Dobbin and Zepiqueno Redmond may not feature as they’re seeking moves away from Villa Park, either permanently or on loan.
Aston Villa predicted line-up against St Louis City
Villa will be expected to line-up in Emery’s trusted 4-3-3 formation with Watkins up front, supported by Leon Bailey and Emiliano Buendia.
Amadou Onana has been speaking about how excited he was to make his first pre-season appearance in the 2-2 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt. He is expected to start in the centre of midfield alongside Youri Tielemans.
Lamare Bogarde could partner Ezri Konsa in the centre of defence, with Ian Maatsen and left-back and Matty Cash at right-back.
Emery has given plenty of opportunities to his academy players, so it would be no surprise to see some of them, either from the start of being introduced as a substitute.
Predicted line-up: Bizot, Cash, Konsa, Bogarde, Maatsen, Kamara, Tielemans, Buendia, Jimoh, Bailey, Watkins
Prediction: St. Louis City 1-4 Aston Villa
There’s an obvious gulf in class between the Premier League and MLS, and Villa will want to show that on Wednesday.
St. Louis are in poor form and could be short on confidence going into this game.
The hosts may be fitter and more used to the Missouri summer weather, but we’d expect Villa’s extra class to pay off in this game.
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