Relegation battling side Aston Villa will be locking horns with the impressive Sheffield United on 17th June, as the Premier League’s Project Restart plan gets underway.
Aston Villa’s manager Dean Smith will be hoping his struggling side can take maximum points against the Blades who have had a better record against the Villans.
Due to the league being suspend because of the Covid-19 crisis since March, it has given players on the treatment table the opportunity and time to recuperate towards the restart of the Premier league.
Though Aston Villa will still be without two of their senior players namely Wesley and Tom Heaton but the remaining squad members have had two friendly-like sessions against West Brom and Leicester in preparation for their match against Sheffield.
Villa will be looking unto their captain for some inspiration as he has been Villa‘s most impressive performer so far this season. Grealish has been involved in 13 out of Villa‘s 34 Premier League goals this season, scoring 7 goals and assisting 6 in the process. He tops his team in both scoring and assist chart.
Aston Villa will also be welcoming one of their favoured player John McGinn, after serving his time on the treatment table since December. His availability will surely be a boost for the Villans.
Villa’s team will almost pick itself in a similar manner to the team that played their last few games before the Pandemic, with the inclusion of few like John McGinn and Pepe Reina.
The Villans’ manager Dean Smith will want to overrun the visitors at the midfield so as to limit the Blades’ threat which could be imposed by either Oliver Norwood, Serge Berge or even Lundstram. Villa has conceded huge amount of goals this season and it won’t be wise to play an open game against Sheffield United.
GOALKEEPER
Starting from the goalkeeper, in the absence of Tom Heaton, Orjan Nyland has deputised well for the Villans but with the experience of Pepe Reina, he stands to be rewarded with an appearance between the sticks against the Blades’.
DEFENDERS
At centre back, Tyrone Mings and Bjorn Engels will continue their partnership, and hope to finally have a clean sheet which has eluded them since the last nine games. At the full back position, Frédéric Guilbert and Matt Targett will retain their positions as both players will need to defend intelligently when Sheffield players are with the ball and seamlessly attack and support their wingers in order to hit the Blades on a counter attack.
MIDFIELDERS
The midfield three should consist of Marvelous Nakamba being a shield for the defenders, while Conor Hourihane & John McGinn look to disrupt Sheffield United’s play and also provide attacking impetus.
FORWARD
For the wings, Jack Grealish and Anwar El Ghazi come on top which leaves no room for Trezeguet in the starting line-up but he can come in from the bench in the second half.
The Tanzanian Mbwana Samatta who scored two goals in six appearances should spearhead the attack. Since joining the Villans from Genk in January, the 27-year-old Tanzanian forward has shown that he’s capable of scoring goals if given the right services and with the Villas battling to come out of the relegation zone, Samatta will need to start showing his goals scoring prowess against Sheffield United on Wednesday.
