Unai Emery has a few selection dilemmas ahead of Aston Villa's Premier League clash with Wolves on Friday night
Aston Villa midfielder Ross Barkley
Aston Villa midfielder Ross Barkley(Image: PA)
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Aston Villa need to return to winning ways on Friday when they take on bottom club Wolves at Molineux.
Unai Emery’s side have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions, and their buffer inside the top five has shrunk to six points.
With 10 matches remaining in the season after this weekend, it is of paramount importance that Villa condemn Wolves to yet another home defeat, with the hosts having already lost 10 league games at Molineux this campaign.
Wolves have, however, won four of their last six Premier League home games against Villa and are unbeaten in four meetings since a 1-0 defeat in December 2020.
Despite Villa’s patchy recent form, facing Wolves presents a good opportunity to bounce back from a frustrating 1-1 draw against Leeds last time out.
Each of Wolves’ last seven Premier League wins have come against teams in the bottom seven of the table, with those sides having an average league position of 17th.
Villa will remain without midfield duo John McGinn and Youri Tielemans, while Boubacar Kamara is out for the season with a knee injury.
Matty Cash returned to fitness against Leeds and is set to start at right-back, with Ezri Konsa also expected to feature in front of Emi Martinez.
Tyrone Mings has started the last three league matches, meaning Pau Torres has seen limited game time recently and could return to the starting XI for this encounter.
Ian Maatsen appears to be Emery’s first-choice left-back at this stage, having started six of Villa’s last eight matches, although he was benched for Lucas Digne in away games at Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
Amadou Onana and Douglas Luiz are expected to continue in the double pivot, but Ross Barkley could earn a recall to the starting XI following his impressive performance off the bench against Leeds.
He may replace Emi Buendia, while Jadon Sancho could be rewarded for helping rescue a point last weekend. Morgan Rogers is likely to operate from the left.
Tammy Abraham has hit the ground running since returning to Villa in January, scoring in each of his last two matches.
Ollie Watkins, meanwhile, has scored just once in his last 10 appearances in all competitions and might even benefit from a spell out of the starting XI, particularly as two of his better performances this season came off the bench against Tottenham and Chelsea.
Predicted Villa XI vs Wolves: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Onana, Luiz; Sancho, Barkley, Rogers; Abraham.
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