Aston Villa host Barnsley at Villa Park in the Championship this evening…
Aston Villa starting line-up: Johnstone; Hutton, Chester, Baker, Amavi; Adomah, Lansbury, Hourihane, Grealish; Hogan, Kodjia.
Aston Villa substitutes: Bunn, Elphick, Bacuna, Bjarnason, Gardner, Green, Davis.
Barnsley starting line-up: Davies; Yiadom, MacDonald, Roberts, Elder; Watkins, James, Moncur, Kent; Armstrong, Bradshaw.
Barnsley substitutes: Townsend, Jackson, Jones, Williams, Hammill, Hedges, Lee
Villa have endured a miserable start to 2017, as Steve Bruce’s men have lost five of their six league games since the turn of the year.
Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Ipswich Town has left Villa just seven points clear of the relegation zone, and a whopping 16 points shy of the play-off places.
Bruce needs a result to appease fans, and he’s gone with a 4-4-2 system tonight, as Jonathan Kodjia and Scott Hogan start up front together.
Albert Adomah and Jack Grealish look to be starting out wide, whilst Conor Hourihane – starting against the club he left for Villa in January – features alongside Henri Lansbury in the middle.
Alan Hutton, James Chester, Nathan Baker and Jordan Amavi start in defence, with Sam Johnstone still in goal despite a shaky start to his Villa loan spell.
That means the likes of Tommy Elphick and Birkir Bjarnason are both on the bench, alongside Keinan Davis, Gary Gardner, Leandro Bacuna, Andre Green and backup goalkeeper Mark Bunn.
Meanwhile, Barnsley hand starts to four loanees, as Callum Elder and Matty James (both Leicester) feature, along with Liverpool’s Ryan Kent and Newcastle striker Adam Armstrong.
They are joined in the starting line-up by the likes of George Moncur, Marley Watkins, Tom Bradshaw and goalkeeper Adam Davies, with a back four of Andy Yiadom, Angus MacDonald, Marc Roberts and the aforementioned Elder.
Everton loanee Gethin Jones is on the bench, along with Nick Townsend, Adam Jackson, Ryan Williams, Adam Hammill, Elliot Lee and Ryan Hedges.
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