Aston Villa travel to face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night and Read Aston Villa predict that Steven Gerrard will ring the changes after his side lost 1-0 to West Ham United on Sunday.
The Villa manager might go from a 4-1-2-1-2 against West Ham to a 4-3-3 against Arsenal too.
Emi Martinez could do little about West Ham’s deflected winner, so he should keep his place in goal.
Matty Cash was good defensively on Sunday, so his spot at right-back isn’t under threat. Lucas Digne was more threatening in the final third, so he will keep his place too.
Ezri Konsa and Calum Chambers started at centre-back against the Hammers and both put in good performances, so Tyrone Mings might be given one more game off to fully recover.
Nobody is pushing Boubacar Kamara out of the team. He’s impressed since his summer arrival, so Marvelous Nakamba will have to bide his time.
Jacob Ramsey might get the nod over Douglas Luiz after the latter was hooked in the West Ham defeat. Ramsey provides so much more in the final third than Luiz, so he could be important against Arsenal.
John McGinn probably could do with a rest, but Nakamba can’t provide the same energy and box-to-box threat as the 27-year-old so he’ll skipper the side like normal on Wednesday.
Leon Bailey may feel he should have started against West Ham after scoring a brilliant solo goal in Villa’s EFL Cup win, but Gerrard should correct the mistake and give him the nod as wide-men will be needed.
Ollie Watkins creates more for his teammates than Danny Ings and is more comfortable as a lone strike that runs the channels, so he should start on Wednesday.
Emiliano Buendia is likely to replace the fatigued Philippe Coutinho against Arsenal but might be used in a wider role rather than as a central playmaker.
Predicted XI vs Arsenal: Martinez; Cash, Chambers, Konsa, Digne; Kamara, Ramsey, McGinn; Bailey, Watkins, Buendia
In other news, Steven Gerrard could replace Douglas Luiz with Jacob Ramsey against Arsenal
