Aston Villa team news as Unai Emery makes a stunning change against Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League
Manager Unai Emery has named his team for Aston Villa’s Europa League match against Red Bull Salzburg this evening.
Villa must balance the need to avoid further injury problems with the advantage up for grabs with a top-two finish in the league phase of the Europa League, which offers home advantage all the way.
Emery has attempted to make changes without sacrificing the fixture, resulting in a team that boasts a handful of regular starters, some younger players who will benefit from the opportunity, and one massive surprise.
Emiliano Martínez stays in goal and Ollie Watkins, as the only striker currently in Villa’s European squad, starts the game at centre-forward. James Wright, Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba and Kadan Young are among the substitutes.
Harvey Elliott!
There’s really only one headline from this evening’s team selection. Having confirmed pre-match that there’s no change in the status of Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliott, Emery has drafted the attacking midfielder in from the start.
Stuck in limbo thanks to an obligation to buy whose criteria Villa don’t intend to fulfil, Elliott hasn’t made an appearance since Villa played Feyenoord in their first match of October.
Using the squad’s depth wherever possible tonight was bound to be part of Emery’s thinking but not many of us saw Elliott getting a game, never mind from the beginning.
In terms of the future, it’s more noteworthy that there’s a first senior start for midfielder George Hemmings. The teenager partners Amadou Onana in the centre.
Villa team news in full
Starting XI: Martínez, Bogarde, Lindelöf, Mings, Digne, Hemmings, Onana, Elliott, Buendía, Sancho, Watkins
Substitutes: Bizot, Wright, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen, Rogers, Jimoh-Aloba, Young
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