Aston Villa vs Pathum predicted XI: George Hemmings back as Unai Emery in youth emphasis

Aston Villa continue their tour of Asia on Tuesday afternoon against Thai outfit Pathum United.

Unai Emery's side began this tour with a 3-1 win over Indonesia All Stars on Saturday.

Ross Barkley, Emi Buendia and Brian Madjo were all on target in Jakarta, as the Villains got back to winning ways following defeats to Real Sociedad and Porto.

Tuesday's opponents Pathum are from the Pathum Thani province in Central Thailand, and were formed in 1979 as Bangkok Glass but rebranded to their current name in 2018.

They play at the True BG Stadium and are owned by Bangkok Glass PCL, which is where their original name and the BG that remains at the beginning of their name comes from.

So, ahead of Tuesday's 1:30pm kick-off UK time, Villa News attempts to predict how Emery will line his team up in Thailand.

Unai Emery makes one change in defence vs Pathum

Against the Indonesia XI last time out, Emery went with a largely youthful defence.

Goalkeeper James Wright earned his first start of pre-season between the sticks and performed well, and so we're backing the 21-year-old to keep his place in the team as he looks to push Marco Bizot out of the number two role.

At right-back, Kosta Nedeljkovic is likely to start once again, as he looks to try and win a senior role in 2026-27 as Matty Cash's backup.

The 20-year-old Serbian international only played 252 minutes of Bundesliga football whilst on loan with RB Leipzig last term, but he did win 100 per cent of his aerial duels, make 3.57 clearances and enjoy a 62.5 long ball accuracy rate per 90 minutes, as per FotMob.

Over on the left, 19-year-old Triston Rowe started at left-back against Indonesia XI, and this feels like another good chance to see more of him ahead of Emery potentially going stronger against Bayern Munich on Friday.

He started 25 times in Ligue 2 on loan with Annecy last season, scoring once and providing two assists as well as creating seven big chances, completing 26 successful dribbles and making 130 defensive contributions, highlighting why he's so highly thought of around Villa Park.

As for the centre-back pairing, that was Modou Cisse and Pau Torres last time out, but we're backing Tyrone Mings to replace the latter, with the Spaniard being dropped to the bench.

So, whilst we think Emery will largely stick to the same script in defence, will he perhaps offer some more youngsters minutes in midfield?

Hemmings and one other academy talent starts in midfield

Again with that Bayern friendly in mind on Friday, Emery may look to rest some more of his senior stars on Tuesday night in preparation for that game.

Victor Lindelof and Barkley were the central midfield pairing against Indonesia XI, and we think the former will keep his place but the latter could be swapped out for Lamare Bogarde.

On the left wing, we think this feels like a sensible spot for Emery to hand Alysson a starting role over Alejandro Garnacho, with Villa potentially needing to make a loan decision on the 20-year-old Brazilian soon.

Meanwhile, Emery is sure to want John McGinn starting against Bayern, and so this could be a perfect opportunity to reward highly-rated youngster Bradley Burrowes with a place in the team on the right.

The 18-year-old scored 12 goals and provided three assists in 15 Premier League 2 games in 2025-26, averaging 0.80 goals per 90 as well as creating 21 total chances and completing 16 dribbles across those appearances.

And in the number 10 spot, Emi Buendia could be rested to provide an opportunity for a young talent that many Villa fans want to see more of, and that's George Hemmings.

He's widely considered as one of Villa's leading academy prospects right now, and he scored from starting in this position against Real Sociedad but was benched against Indonesia XI.

That just leaves the centre-forward position to fill, and Emery has an interesting choice to make here.

Emery has two striker options to pick from vs Pathum

With Ollie Watkins still being rested after his World Cup with England and Tammy Abraham recovering from shoulder surgery, Emery's centre-forward options are limited at the moment.

That was exemplified by the decision to start Evann Guessand up top against Indonesia XI, but he was replaced at half-time by Brian Madjo.

Of course, Madjo went on to score in the second half, and Villa may want to give him as many first-team chances as possible due to his current FIFA-imposed restriction on playing competitive football for the Villains until he turns 18 in January 2027.

However, Madjo has time on his side to be a success with Aston Villa, Guessand, on the other hand, doesn't.

A transfer decision on the Ivorian is likely going to be made one way or another this summer, and so Emery is sure to want to see as much of him as possible before making a more informed call.

Therefore, we're expecting Guessand to once again lead the Villa line against Pathum, and a couple of goals here could do his Villa Park chances the world of good.