Unai Emery surely leaves Aston Villa fans furious after what he’s done vs Newcastle
Unai Emery has released his starting line-up for Aston Villa’s trip to Newcastle on Sunday.
Villa lost 1-0 to Everton on 18 January at Villa Park, and their title hopes were severely dented as a result.
Sitting seven points behind Arsenal, the Villans have to go to St James’ Park and claim all three points to apply some pressure on the league leaders.
Newcastle are predicted to beat Villa, and Emery has made five changes to his side as he looks to secure a first away win at St James’ Park since 2005.
Pau Torres recalled for Aston Villa vs Newcastle, Unai Emery makes five changes
Torres had come under scrutiny for some of his performances in a Villa shirt this season, yet he has become irreplaceable in Emery’s first-choice starting line-up.
Tyrone Mings was fantastic against Fenerbahce on Thursday, while Victor Lindelof has been a valuable understudy over the festive period.
Both players have earned the chance to start in the Premier League consistently, yet Torres has been recalled in place of Mings at the heart of the defence.
| Home record | Stat | Away record |
| 11 | Games played | 11 |
| 8 | Wins | 5 |
| 1 | Draws | 3 |
| 2 | Losses | 3 |
Torres made a crucial mistake in the loss to Everton when he miscontrolled a pass, which ultimately led to Thierno Barry’s winning goal.
The 29-year-old has been a key part of Emery’s side since joining in 2023, and he needs to bounce back with an assured performance against Newcastle.
Mings will definitely feel unlucky to watch on from the bench, and Emery may have a lot of questions to answer if the Spaniard has another poor outing.
Given how he bullied Jhon Duran in Turkey, Villa fans aren’t too happy with Mings’ dropping.
As for the changes to the team, Torres, Ezri Konsa, Emi Martinez, Ian Maatsen, and Amadou Onana replace Lindelof, Mings, Marco Bizot, Lucas Digne, and Lamare Bogarde.
While Torres, Lindelof, and Mings are all capable of performing at this level, Villa need more quality in their defence if they are to sustain their performance levels.
Aston Villa need to sign another top-class centre-back alongside Ezri Konsa
Konsa has led the backline remarkably in 2025-26, and he has quickly become one of the best defenders in the Premier League.
Having to juggle the intense schedule that comes with European football, the 28-year-old’s availability has been crucial to Villa’s success over the past few seasons.
However, he has been let down on numerous occasions by his centre-back partner in recent games.
One of Villa’s biggest problems is the lack of quality they have in defence.
While it is not likely to happen in the winter transfer window, signing a new centre-back surely has to be a priority for Emery in the summer.
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