Unai Emery to axe Ollie Watkins as starlet handed first start – Aston Villa predicted XI vs Young Boys
Aston Villa are set to welcome Young Boys in a return to Europa League action on Thursday.
Villa are set to play host to Young Boys at Villa Park as their continental journey continues after the international break.
Unai Emery can have high hopes against the Swiss outfit after Villa secured a 2-1 win over Leeds United at Elland Road in the Premier League.
The Villans are in an excellent run of form, and Villa did beat Young Boys last season in the Champions League, but they do have some underperforming players on their hands.
Ollie Watkins is one of those, and he could be set to face the axe as the Midlands plays host to another European fixture.
Aston Villa could make four changes vs Young Boys
Lucas Perri was poor for Morgan Rogers’ free kick against Leeds, but he wasn’t alone in with his poor goalkeeping as Emi Martinez had a shocker for the home side’s opener.
He did manage to make three saves, but failed to prevent 1.00 expected goals on target on the day, while failing to act as sweeper once.
The Argentina international is still likely to start against Young Boys, with Marco Bizot only starting when the number one is injured.
Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres could all keep their places from the Elland Road victory as they remain a constant in Villa’s recent good form.
The trio between them won 10 ground duels between them against Leeds, so they will be confident of maintaining that in the Europa League.
Ian Maatsen could be set to come in for Lucas Digne after actioning four defensive contributions and three successful duels as a half-time substitute in Yorkshire.
Youri Tielemans could be another to keep his place, but could be joined by a debutant in George Hemmings after he made the bench last time out.
Emery could afford Boubacar Kamara a rest against Young Boys, even after winning a match-high 10 duels away to Daniel Farke’s men.
Ollie Watkins could be dropped vs Young Boys
Emery may look to make changes against Young Boys, but there is no way he can drop Morgan Rogers on current form.
The England international was top class against Leeds, as he scored two and managed to complete the most dribbles on the pitch with four.
He also contributed to eight defensive actions, and it is that work rate that makes him so excellent alongside John McGinn, who could also start again.
Evann Guessand could join this duo and feature out on the right in place of Emi Buendia after he was hooked at half time last time around at Elland Road.
Donyell Malen made all the difference in LS11, coming on as a substitute at the break to grab an assist and put in a generally electric performance.
He could start up front against Young Boys and replace Watkins after he took just 22 touches away to Leeds and got less impactful as the afternoon went on with his 33 per cent shot accuracy.
The 29-year-old truly doesn’t deserve to start at Villa Park and should be relegated to chances off the bench for the foreseeable.
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