Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is expected to have a clean bill of health for Saturday's Premier League showdown with Newcastle United at Villa Park.
The Lions are still mourning their Champions League dreams after an agonising 5-4 aggregate loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals, but they are still unbeaten at home in 2025 after a 3-2 success in the second leg.
Emery controversially omitted Ollie Watkins from his starting lineup in midweek, but the ex-Brentford man is surely in line to lead the line on Saturday, where at least a few changes should be in store given that Villa must also take on Manchester City on Tuesday.
While Watkins has our vote to come into the XI, all of Morgan Rogers, John McGinn and the impactful Marcus Rashford should be retained up front; instead, Amadou Onana will likely be sacrificed.
The Belgian dropping out would allow his compatriot Youri Tielemans to take up a deeper position alongside Boubacar Kamara, but it would not be a surprise to see Emery shuffle the pack defensively again.
Midweek goalscorer Ezri Konsa could shift across to the right to offer Matty Cash a rest, thus opening the door for either Axel Disasi or Tyrone Mings to join Pau Torres in central defence.
The fresh legs of Ian Maatsen may also be utilised over Lucas Digne, but Emiliano Martinez dons the gloves in goal as ever.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Martinez; Konsa, Torres, Disasi, Maatsen; Kamara, Tielemans; Rogers, McGinn, Rashford; Watkins
> Click here to see how Newcastle could line up for this game
Ben Knapton
