Aston Villa made club history on Monday when they beat Millwall 1-0 to make it 10 wins from their last 10 league matches.
To add to this, due to their play-off rivals dropping valuable points, Dean Smith’s men secured a play-off position with two games left to spare. This is some feat considering where they were ten games ago – in 14th place, 8 points adrift of the top 6.
Next up for Villa is an away trip to play Leeds and Smith is now left with a small dilemma – does he go for eleven wins on the bounce and risk injury or suspension to key players, or does he rest his key players and give the squad players a run out knowing that a play-off spot is assured?
We think he will field his strongest team, but will swap things about early in the second-half.
Here is our predicted Villa XI for Sunday’s game against Leeds
GK: Jed Steer
Has been very good since he took over for the injured Kalinic and will certainly start on Sunday.
RB: Ahmed Elmohamady
The Egyptian has been in great form as of late and deserves to keep his place in the starting XI.
CB: Tyrone Mings
Mings has been an absolute rock for Villa at the back since he joined in January and he will definitely be starting on Sunday afternoon.
CB: Axel Tuanzebe
Tuanzebe is back from injury, so we reckon he will slot back in at centre-back alongside Mings.
LB: Neil Taylor
Like Elmohamady, Taylor has also been in great form as of late and deserves to keep his spot in the starting XI.
RM: Andre Green
Adomah has had a very poor season, so we expect to see Green given a starting spot against Leeds on Sunday.
CM: Glenn Whelan
Glenn Whelan has been very good as of late, so we expect him to start in front of the back four yet again.
CM: John McGinn
McGinn has been one of Villa’s best players this season, so we expect him to start against Leeds on Sunday. However, we only see him playing the first 50 or 60 minutes.
CM: Jack Grealish
Grealish makes Villa’s midfield tick, so we think he will start on Sunday. However, like with McGinn, we don’t see Smith giving him the full 90 minutes.
LM: Anwar El Ghazi
El Ghazi has stepped his game up lately, so we would be surprised if he isn’t starting on the left-wing on Sunday.
ST: Jonathan Kodjia
Tammy Abraham is still out injured, so Jonathan Kodjia will lead the line once again.