Preview: Walsall vs Aston Villa - prediction, team news, lineups

Kicking off preparations for the 2025-26 campaign, Aston Villa will make the short trip to Walsall on Wednesday, when they play their first pre-season friendly.

Both Midlands clubs narrowly missed out on their main goal at the end of last term; now they meet for a traditional warm-up game at Bescot Stadium.

Match preview

Despite reaching the latter stages of the FA Cup and Champions League, in addition to contending for another top-five finish in the Premier League, Aston Villa were left with a bitter taste at the very end of their 2024-25 campaign.

Missing out on a return to Europe's top competition following an eventful last-day defeat to Manchester United, Villa ultimately had to settle for sixth place and spot in the Europa League.

Still, Unai Emery's men can look forward to a third straight year in continental competition, and they started their preparations for the new season last week.

Having just returned to training at Bodymoor Heath, the Villans will first play nearby Walsall, before heading over to Germany and then the USA.

Hansa Rostock, Eintracht Frankfurt, St Louis and Nashville all await, before they return to Bescot Stadium for a contest with Roma. Then, after taking on Marseille and Villarreal, the new league season will begin with a home game against Newcastle United.

Between now and then, Emery will hope to add players to his squad - which has been thinned out by the departure of several loanees - and build some momentum for the challenges ahead.

Having met 12 times over the past 15 years, Aston Villa are regular pre-season opponents for Walsall, who rarely manage to avoid defeat.

The Saddlers have lost nine and drawn three of those meetings, including a 3-0 reverse this time last year, when Morgan Rogers bagged a brace at the Bescot.

Like Villa, Walsall also endured heartbreak at the end of last term, narrowly missing out on promotion in the League Two playoff final against Wimbledon.

For much of the campaign, Mat Sadler's men had led the way in England's fourth tier, but their mid-season slump had a long tail and eventually proved very costly.

In less than three weeks, Walsall will be back in competitive action, hosting Swindon Town on the opening day, so they have already played a pair of friendlies against local opponents.

After putting four past Leamington, Sadler's side beat National League North outfit Hereford 3-0 last weekend, with Aaron Pressley, Josh Gordon and Charlie Lakin getting their names on the scoresheet.

Walsall form (all competitions): W W

Team News

Unai Emery may not field many first-team players on Wednesday, preferring to assess some of Aston Villa's academy squad that won the FA Youth Cup and Premier League National Cup last season.

Another young prospect, Zepiqueno Redmond - who recently joined on a free from Feyenoord - is in contention for a place up front.

Uncertainty still surrounds number one goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, so any two from Joe Gauci, Filip Marschall and Oliwier Zych should get a half each.

Full-backs Kosta Nedeljkovic and Alex Moreno recently returned from loan spells, but the former has now signed for RB Leipzig on a temporary deal, and the latter is expected to depart too.

Meanwhile, Walsall boss Mat Sadler has been running the rule over two trialists this summer, having already made seven signings. Among them, Myles Roberts could start in goal, with Harrison Burke, Jonny Stuttle, Courtney Clarke and Vincent Harper also in the mix.

David Okagbue and Brandon Comley returned to training last week, coming back late due to their international commitments, while midfielder Jamie Jellis has recovered from an illness.

Ex-Villa cult hero Albert Adomah will hope to start against his old club; at the other end of the age scale, academy graduate Charlie Wragg is a contender after scoring twice versus Leamington.

Walsall possible starting lineup: Roberts; Barrett, Browne, Okagbue, Burke, Hancock; Lakin, Maher; Jellis, Adomah; Matt

Aston Villa possible starting lineup: Zych; Garcia, Bogarde, Mings, Patterson; Kamara, Barkley; Jimoh-Aloba, Broggio, Ramsey; Redmond

We say: Walsall 1-3 Aston Villa

Though Aston Villa are behind in terms of fitness, their class should eventually shine through against fourth-tier Walsall.

Both squads will get valuable minutes, but the hosts are set to suffer yet another pre-season defeat to their visitors from nearby Birmingham.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Jonathan O'Shea

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