Aston Villa face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, and Unai Emery has named his starting line-up for the encounter.
Villa got back to winning ways in midweek after defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League, and Emery will be hoping to build on that and sign off with three more crucial points ahead of the international break.
There was a huge boost for the Villa boss on Thursday night too as Youri Tielemans made his comeback from a calf injury, while Emiliano Buendia also came off the bench to feature after a recent setback of his own.
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In turn, it was hoped that there were no fresh issues heading into this encounter against Andoni Iraola’s side, and as per the club’s post below, there wasn’t as Emery made six changes from our last outing with Matty Cash, Lucas Digne, Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn, Emiliano Buendia and Ollie Watkins returning to the starting line-up to replace Victor Lindelof, Ian Maatsen, Lamare Bogarde, Evann Guessand, Jadon Sancho and Donyell Malen respectively.
Despite the changes, it’s a strong Villa XI with excellent options on the bench if needed, but there is no place for Harvey Elliott in the matchday squad again as question marks continue to be raised over how he fits into the picture and whether or not he has a long-term future at the club.
Emery has played down doubts in recent weeks as he has insisted that the playmaker is adapting and getting used to our structure and way of playing, but his absence surely doesn’t help, as he needs game time to continue that process and make his mark.
Time will tell if a decision is made in January relating to his future, but for now, the full focus is on Bournemouth and securing all three points in a crucial game.
Your Villa starting XI on Remembrance Sunday 🫡 #AVLBOU pic.twitter.com/ajfcoCLF0c
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 9, 2025