Aston Villa team news as Unai Emery names Leon Bailey AND Ollie Watkins against Chelsea
Manager Unai Emery has named his team for Aston Villa’s Premier League match against Chelsea this evening.
Villa are winless in their last two league games and have dropped to fourth place in the Premier League, an outcome from their poor form that would have been worse without Wolverhampton Wanderers beating Liverpool at Molineux yesterday.
Emery has generated an army of raised eyebrows with his team selection for tonight’s fixture at Villa Park and, one might suggest, has put himself in the position of really needing to win the match.
If Villa don’t pick up three points, supporters will be well within their rights to ask why Emery is sticking so steadfastly to a formula that isn’t working and not making the necessary changes to his players or tactical system.
Controversial calls in a match that matters
Emery is nothing if not a man of his convictions. That’s to be admired but it’s certainly leaving him out on a limb at Villa Park tonight. Picking all three of Ollie Watkins, Emi Buendía and Leon Bailey is bold to say the least.
On a night that Villa will end nine, six or three points inside the Champions League places, gambling on three struggling players to bear the burden of winning the game is the work of a genius, a madman or an idiot.
We know Emery is not an idiot, but with Jadon Sancho, Tammy Abraham and to a lesser extent Alysson sitting on the bench, the Villa boss is putting himself right in the spotlight.
These are big, big decisions. They’re also serious shows of faith in his players. All three of these owe him a top-notch performance. They’re not the only ones.
Villa team news in full
Starting XI: Martínez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen, Onana, Luiz, Bailey, Buendía, Rogers, Watkins
Substitutes: Bizot, Lindelöf, Digne, Torres, Bogarde, Barkley, Sancho, Abraham, Alysson
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