Aston Villa put some safe distance between themselves and the Relegation Zone thanks to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Bristol City on Tuesday evening.
This was Villa’s second win in 4 days and now means that they are sitting on 42 points, a relatively comfortable 9 points above the third and final relegation spot.
Villa have a great opportunity to increase the distance and make it 3 wins in 7 days when they take on Rotherham on Saturday at 3pm. Rotherham have only won 4 games the whole season and, as a result, they find themselves sitting at the bottom of the table with just 17 points – a whopping 16 points adrift of safety. It is probably fair to say that Rotherham are destined for League 1 football next season.
Villa (and their fans) will be thinking that this will be a relatively comfortable 3 points, but we all know what happens when Villa are expected to win…
Here is our predicted Villa XI for Saturday’s afternoon kick-off against Rotherham.
GK: Sam Johnstone
The two recent clean sheets will have done him the world of good, and there is no doubt that Bruce will stick with him for this weekend’s game.
RB: Alan Hutton
Hutton has been very good as of late and does not deserve to lose his place. Bruce will reward his recent performances with another start against Rotherham.
CB: James Chester
Apart from a dip in form at the start of the year, Chester has been outstanding for Villa this season. One of the first names on the team sheet.
CB: Nathan Baker
Is the type of defender that every manager wants at his disposal. He is not afraid to put his body on the line for the cause. Has formed a great partnership with Chester and Bruce won’t want to split the pair up.
LB: Neil Taylor
Is not as good going forward as amavi is, but he is much better defensively. Villa have enough attacking options, so it’s better to have a stronger defender playing.
RM: Albert Adomah
Always looks to get forward with the ball so that he can try to make something happen. We reckon Bruce will start him again on Saturday.
CDM: Mile Jedinak
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – When Jedinak is fit to play, he must! He provides extra cover for the defence and allows our more attacking players to go forward confidently. Villa are a much better side when Jedinak is playing.
CM: Henri Lansbury
CM: Conor Hourihane
Had a great game on Tuesday after coming on for the injured Gardner, and topped it off with his first goal for the club. This will hopefully give him the confidence to go on and score more.
LM: Birkir Bjarnason
With Green having pulled a hamstring on Tuesday, we reckon that Bjarnason will be his replacement. Not a bad replacement to be fair.
ST: Jonathan Kodjia
Missed a penalty on Tuesday, but kept his chin up and notched his 12th goal of the season. He is one of the first names on the teamsheet at present.