Aston Villa will be looking to make it five pre-season wins out of five when they take on RB Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena on Saturday afternoon.
So far Dean Smith’s men have beaten Minnesota United 3-0, Shrewsbury Town 1-0, Walsall 5-1, and Charlton Athletic 5-1, but this will be their toughest pre-season game by quite some distance.
The German outfit finished a very respectable third in the Bundesliga last year, meaning that they will be playing in the Champions League this coming season.
They boast talent such as Germany’s Timo Werner, so this game will definitely be a good marker as to where this Villa squad are just one week before they take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
We expect Smith to start with the players that are likely to line up against Spurs on the 10th August – here is our predicted Villa XI.
GK: Tom Heaton
Will be Villa’s number one this season, so we expect to see him start the last pre-season game.
RB: Frederic Guilbert
Guilbert has shown glimpses of what he is capable of, but Smith will want to see how he copes about much better opposition.
CB: Tyrone Mings
Mings will likely be Villa’s first-choice centre-back this season, so all that is left is for Smith to decide who will line up alongside him.
CB: Bjorn Engels
Engels hasn’t played much this pre-season due to a slight niggle, so if he is fully fit we reckon he will be given the nod in preparation for the new Premier League season.
LB: Matt Targett
Summer signing Targett looks set to start against Spurs on the opening weekend of the season, so we expect him to start on Saturday against the German outfit.
RM: Jota
Jota has been fantastic in pre-season and we would be surprised if he isn’t allowed to start against Leipzig.
CM: Marvelous Nakamba
Aston Villa have been looking for a strong defensive presence in the midfield and Smith will be excited to see how Nakamba gets on against decent opposition.
CM: John McGinn
McGinn was fantastic against Charlton and is likely to line up alongside Grealish against Spurs, so we reckon Smith will play them both against the toughest opposition they have played to see how they get on.
CM: Jack Grealish
As club captain, we expect to see Grealish start on Saturday and be tasked with unlocking the Leipzig defence.
LM: Anwar El Ghazi
This was a tough choice with Smith having a few options available to him, but we think El Ghazi will be given the nod.
ST: Wesley Moraes
After arriving for big money, Moraes will be leading the line for Villa this season, so Smith will be watching him closely against a well-organised defence.