Unai Emery causes worry with announcement ahead of Brighton vs Aston Villa – ‘This is a mess’
Unai Emery has made four changes to Aston Villa’s starting lineup to face Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday evening.
Villa make the trip to Brighton’s Amex Stadium aiming to make it six wins in a row in all competitions and retain their place in the top four of the Premier League.
Emery was expected to change his starting XI slightly against Brighton, but he has instead decided to make four alterations from Villa’s 1-0 win over Wolves on Sunday.
That is perhaps with Saturday’s clash against leaders Arsenal at Villa Park in mind.
Ollie Watkins recalled in four Aston Villa changes
Villa announced their starting lineup via X ahead of kick-off, with Ollie Watkins among those to return.
Emery spoke on the eve of the game about Watkins not being fully fit, but he is rotated into the side on the South Coast.
Ian Maatsen and Amado Onana also return for Villa, as does Evann Guessand, with Lucas Digne, Youri Tielemans, Emi Buendia and Donyell Malen being named among the substitutes.
Villa enter the contest one place above Brighton in fourth, making this a very important game, and plenty of fans have questioned Emery’s selection on social media.
One supporter posted: “Unai, I’m gonna trust you, but this is a mess.”
Another asked: “What are Guessand and Watkins doing in the team?”
Echoing the thoughts of many others, one user said: “Definitely got the Arsenal game in their minds with this line up.“
Aston Villa have four ever-present away starters
Emery has retained the likes of Morgan Rogers, John McGinn, Emi Martinez and Matty Cash in his XI.
Those are the four players to have played in every away Premier League game so far this season for Villa, as per Aston Villa Statto on X.
Pau Torres starts for his 90th Aston Villa appearance, while Ezri Konsa is in defence for his 210th outing in Villa colours.
Emery, taking charge for the 160th time, will just hope his decision to rotate fairly heavily does not backfire on the South Coast.
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