Aston Villa line-up vs Zrinjski predicted as Watkins benched, Ramsey starts and Martinez decision made

Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive as Unai Emery prepares his side for Zrinjski Mostar clash

On Thursday night, Aston Villa will play their last Europa Conference League group stage match against Zrinjski Mostar in Bosnia.

 

After defeating Legia Warsaw two weeks ago, Unai Emery’s team leads Group E. If they avoid Zrinjski tomorrow night, they will go to the round of 16.

Finishing first in the group will allow Villa to avoid a two-leg knockout play-off encounter in February, having already guaranteed qualifying with a 2-1 victory against Legia.

Legia must beat AZ Alkmaar at home to stand any chance of finishing top but if they fail to do so, Villa will progress to the last 16 no matter their result in Mostar.

They come into the clash on the back of consecutive victories over last season’s top two in the Premier League, Man City and Arsenal.

Villa became only the fourth team to play the previous season’s top two in consecutive Premier League matches and win them both, after Liverpool in December 2000, Southampton in May 2001 and Manchester United in December 2002. After outplaying Man City last Wednesday, Villa then also defeated Arsenal 1-0 on Saturday.

Later this week, Villa’s hectic holiday schedule will resume with a meeting against Brentford at the Gtech Stadium on Sunday.

After that, they have three games in eight days against Sheffield United, Manchester United, and Brentford. The head coach of Villa is probably going to make a lot of changes for the game against Zrinjski, the champions of Bosnia.

After replacing Emi Martinez in the most recent European match against Legia, Robin Olsen might get the start in goal.

Lucas Digne, who is suspended for the trip to Brentford, and Diego Carlos

Lucas Digne, who is suspended for the trip to Brentford, and Diego Carlos, who have both played well in the Europa Conference League this season, are most likely to start at full-back.

In midfield, Douglas Luiz could start as he will be given a rest this weekend having picked up his fifth yellow card of the season in the win over Arsenal. He could be partnered by Boubacar Kamara.

Youri Tielemans could start ahead of John McGinn, who deserves a well-earned rest after two excellent performances last week against City and Arsenal. Jacob Ramsey could earn his first start of the season against Zrinjski, while Moussa Diaby could play from the off too.

Ollie Watkins will likely start from the bench as Jhon Duran could make his fourth start for Villa in the Europa Conference League.

Villa predicted XI vs Zrinjski: Olsen, Cash, Carlos, Lenglet, Digne, Kamara, Luiz, Tielemans, Ramsey, Diaby, Duran.

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