Predicted Aston Villa side to play Ipswich: New signing dropped

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Here is how we expect Aston Villa and Ipswich Town to line-up ahead of their Championship encounter this weekend.

To be played on Saturday 11th February 2017 at 15:00. Venue: Villa Park, Birmingham

Odds: Aston Villa 8/11, Draw 5/2, Ipswich 10/3

As he prepares his troops for the visit of Ipswich Town, Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce will be hoping that home advantage will help his side secure their first Championship victory of 2017.

Villa, who lost out to a late Nottingham Forest strike last weekend, will certainly be without maverick midfielder Jack Grealish following his dismissal at the City Ground, while long-term injury absentees Jed Steer and Ritchie De Laet remain sidelined.

See also: Aston Villa boss cites crucial moment as catalyst for Forest defeat

Aside from that, Bruce has a fully available squad to select from and looks set to continue to deploy his recently installed 3-4-1-2 system against Ipswich.

Despite recent errors, and the option of selecting Mark Bunn, goalkeeper Sam Johnstone may well be given a vote of confidence by Bruce, retaining the gloves to govern a back three of James Chester, Nathan Baker and Tommy Elphick.

Recent signing James Bree is expected to be named on the right side, with either Jordan Amavi or Neil Taylor replacing Birkir Bjarnason on the left, who was largely ineffective in the role against Forest.

See also: The most hair-rific XI of 2016-17 – Featuring Villa stars

It is anticipated that Henri Lansbury and Conor Hourihane will keep roles in Bruce’s new-look midfield engine room, with Grealish’s spot likely to be contested by Albert Adomah, Leandro Bacuna or rookie Andre Green – with the latter likely to get the starting berth.

Villa’s new strike pairing of January signing Scott Hogan and goal-getter Jonathan Kodjia will be hoping that their partnership can begin to flourish against an Ipswich side who have failed to keep a clean sheet since November’s 3-0 success over Queens Park Rangers.

Ipswich, having made five changes for last week’s draw with Reading, may well shuffle their pack once again.

Manager Mick McCarthy is without midfielder Jonathan Williams and defender Adam Webster, but may hand new loan signing Dominic Samuel a start in attack.