Aston Villa begins the new season by travelling to Southeast to face off the Premier League dark horse, Brighton.
Aston Villa have to deal with an unusual situation ahead of the new season with plenty of changes due to the ongoing departure of their key men and the arrivals of their new signings. This is the first time during Unai Emery’s tenure Villa have to go through such changes with the star exodus.
The latest one, their defender Ezri Konsa has confirmed his move to Arsenal for £ 51 million plus add-ons just a few days before the Premier League kicks off. What is worse, it is not the end with the potential departure of Emiliano Martinez and even Ollie Watkins. Such can be frustrating to see for the fans. Villa have just ended their long title drought and secured a place in the Champions League but only to see they are having a turbulent summer with almost total team build-up.
With only less than two weeks for the summer transfer window, Villa seem to scramble around to find their proper replacement. The likes of Fikayo Tomori, Jonathan David, Tosin Adarabioyo, Nicolas Jackson have been contacted for their ongoing negotiations. Some targets have even been out of reach such as Joao Palhinha and Axel Disasi.
Emery would have to prepare the team from plenty of new signings who have not even had a chance to play together yet. Such could give an advantage to Brighton who are looking to end their negative trend against The Lions. The Seagulls have only won once and suffered five defeats in the last six meetings against Unai Emery’s side. Their total head-to-head record is even inferior with two wins, ten losses and six draws in all competitions.
Unai Emery might have quite a headache with the players on the injury table ahead of the clash against Brighton. His team would not be able to play several new signings, the pre-season ace and the senior forward.
The Brazilian Joao Gomes will be sidelined till early September due to his calf injury from the UEFA Super Cup game, and so will the rising star Brian Madjo who took a knock in the same game. Meanwhile, Alejandro Garnacho is going through recovery for his head injury which he suffered in Jakarta during the team’s Asia Tour.
Then Amadou Onana is ruled out till next year due to his ACL injury at the FIFA World Cup. Another new signing, Johan Manzambi is also sidelined because of his knee injury while playing for Switzerland at the World Cup. Another name who is unavailable is Tammy Abraham. The former AS Roma and AC Milan man is dealing with physical fitness issues.
Considering the number of injuries, and new signings in the squad, Villa are likely to deploy a fairly new starting XI. Zion Suzuki is likely to get a nod between the sticks as Emiliano Martinez might still be in recovery for his finger injury. The Argentine is expected to head to the exit too before this summer.
At the backline, for the first time without Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres should be selected with Victor Lindelof coming off the bench in the second half. Then on both flanks, Matty Cash and Ian Maatsen would still be picked up ahead of the new signings, Aaron Wan Bissaka and Matteo Ruggeri. Yet, one of them could be fielded in the second half.
In the midfield, Boubacar Camara would be paired up with Ross Barkley as the double pivot. Emi Buendia will be taking number 10 role supported by John McGinn on the right and either George Hemmings or Luka Lynch to start on the left. Ollie Watkins would be leading the line.
Brighton v Aston Villa encounter will be available on Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD, Sky Go Extra, and Sky Go UK on TV as well as live streaming. The fans can also enjoy this game on NOW TV.
The post Brighton v Aston Villa: Team News, predicted line up, match preview appeared first on AVillaFan.com – Aston Villa Fan Site.
