The long and arduous Championship season is drawing to a close and Villa still have a slim outside chance of earning automatic promotion to the Premier League thanks to their 4-0 demolition of Ipswich last Saturday.
With just two games remaining, Villa sit 4th in the table, 3 points behind Fulham in 3rd and 4 points behind Cardiff City in 2nd. This means that there is still a mathematical chance that Villa could snatch automatic promotion to the Premier League.
However, to do this, they would need to win their remaining two matches and hope that Fulham and Cardiff don’t pick up another win from their remaining games. This is a tall ask, but funnier things have happened in the world of football.
Next up for Villa is a home match against Derby, who kept their promotion hopes alive with a 3-1 victory against Cardiff on Tuesday evening. This won’t be an easy game, but we’re backing Villa to get another very important three points.
Here’s our predicted Villa XI for Saturday’s match against Derby.
GK: Sam Johnstone
Villa’s No.1 hasn’t conceded in the last three games and Bruce will be hoping he can make it four in a row.
RB: Ahmed Elmohamady
With Hutton and Tuanzebe still out injured, Elmohamady will start at right-back once again.
CB: John Terry
Terry seems to be fit again, so we expect him to start alongside Chester once again.
CB: James Chester
Chester has had an amazing season for Villa and has been the main man at the back in the last few matches. He will start once again against Derby.
LB: Neil Taylor
Went off after picking up a knock against Ipswich, but he should be fit to start at the weekend.
RM: Robert Snodgrass
Was rested for the 4-0 drubbing of Ipswich, but we expect him to start against a much better Derby side.
CM: Glenn Whelan
Has been playing well lately and Bruce will be looking to him to provide cover for the defense while allowing the more creative midfielders to shine.
CM: Conor Hourihane
Bruce will start Hourihane in the hope that he can use his creativity to unlock Derby’s defence.
CM: Jack Grealish
Grealish is in the form of his life at the moment and we just don’t see Bruce leaving him out at the weekend.
LM: Josh Onomah
Onomah has gotten a lot of stick since he joined Villa, but he has been playing very well lately and deserves to keep his place.
ST: Lewis Grabban
Grabban has had a fine time at Villa Park and after his two goals atgainst Ipswich, we think he will be starting once more.