Aston Villa Preston North End Unai Emery Marco Asensio
(credit: Imago)
Max Wilkins
Sun 30 March 2025 12:35, UK
Unai Emery has made three changes to his Aston Villa side as they travel to face Preston North End on Sunday.
The Villans are set to return to action in the FA Cup on 30 March as they look set to travel to face the second-tier outfit at Deepdale.
The B6 club will be desperate to earn a place at Wembley for the first time in five years, as they come off the back of a 3-0 win against Club Brugge in the Champions League.
Emery will have high demands for his side in the FA Cup and as a result, his team selection doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise.
Unai Emery
Unai Emery will be hopeful of an Aston Villa win v Preston (Credit: Imago)
Aston Villa confirmed XI v Preston North End
After yet another productive international break with Argentina, Emi Martinez lines up in between the sticks for Villa. He made one save and kept a clean sheet against Uruguay in a trademark showing from the World’s Number One [FotMob].
Ahead of the 32-year-old, Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Matty Cash have maintained their places in the side as the latter maintained a 100 per cent tackle success rate last time out.
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Alongside this duo, Lucas Digne has come in for Ian Maatsen, who failed to complete a single cross in his last showing in claret and blue.
The base midfield pairing has remained the same with Boubacar Kamara joining Youri Tielemans, who kept up a 92 per cent pass accuracy in the Villans’ last outing.
In the number ten role, Marco Asensio has come in for John McGinn, but it is fair to say his impact off the bench could prove to be a bigger weapon at Deepdale. He did fail to complete a dribble in a zero per cent success rate last time out off the bench, which may represent a worry for Emery.
On the flanks, Morgan Rogers is set to be joined by Jacob Ramsey after his 100 per cent pass accuracy in his last appearance.
This has seen Marcus Rashford move into the forward line to be Villa’s starting striker against Preston as Ollie Watkins drops to the bench after having just 10 touches against Brugge.
Aston Villa must win v Preston North End
There is no doubt that Villa have little to no excuse to fall to defeat against Preston.
The Villans won’t disrespect their opposition, but there is such a difference in quality that anything short of a win would be poor.
Asensio has the chance to have a telling impact with fans ready to back Emery in whatever tactical decision he goes ahead with.
If the Spanish head coach gets it right, a place at Wembley awaits as Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace have already made it through.
Fulham 0-3 Crystal Palace
Brighton 0-0 (3-4 on pens) Nottingham Forest
Preston North End 1:30pm Aston Villa
Bournemouth 4:30pm Manchester City
FA Cup quarter final fixtures and results
It will be interesting to see how Villa cope with the pressure of a full house at Deepdale and whether they can secure a famous win.
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