Aston Villa got their Premier League campaign off to the ideal start with a 1-0 victory over Sheffield United on Monday night.
Dean Smith’s side had to bide their time against the Blades, who held firm after going down to ten men early on, but got the job done.
Villa are in EFL Cup action tomorrow night and we expect Smith’s lineup to be similar to the one which helped dispatch Burton 3-1 in the previous round.
Tomorrow’s opponents are Championship outfit Bristol City and we’ve predicted the side Smith might send out in order to continue Villa’s progress in a competition they reached the final of last season.
Emi Martinez is now clearly Villa’s first choice goalkeeper, but who is the next in line? Orlan Nyland started against Burton, but Jed Steer needs a game. It’s the latter we’ve selected here, but either man could play.
Ahmed Elmohamady started at Burton, as did Neil Taylor and both will likely continue here. Kortney Hause looks nailed-on to start, and we’ve got Tyrone Mings next to him – that would show Smith means business here.
£11 million (Telegraph) man Marvelous Nakamba anchored midfield in the previous round and will hope to get the nod again here.
Henri Lansbury and Jacob Ramsey rounded off the rotated midfield in that one and we see no reason for Smith to change here.
As per Birmingham Live, Smith said earlier this week that new signing Bertrand Traore is ‘ready’ for this clash, which has led us to put him in on the right here.
Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins played at Burton, but we’ve got them down for a rest here now that league action has resumed, giving Traore a chance to show the ‘immense talent’ Smith told Villa’s website he had last week.
Keinan Davis has just signed a new contract until 2024 and should celebrate that with a start down the middle.
Anwar El Ghazi will hope for a start, given Trezeguet looks to have nabbed his starting spot for league action, and should be keen to impress if that is the case.
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