Aston Villa and Derby County go head-to-head this weekend.
Aston Villa travel to Pride Park on Saturday to take on Derby County in their latest Championship clash, and Steve Bruce’s side will be hoping to get back to winning ways after recent draws against Leeds United and Millwall.
Villa are currently fifth in the table with 37 points from 21 matches and, with a four-point gap between the closest challengers for the top six, Bruce will know that a few good results over Christmas could see his side maintain a healthy distance between the promotion hopefuls and the chasing pack heading into 2018.
Villa need to get back on the scoring trail after managing just one goal in their last two games, and for that reason it would be no surprise if Scott Hogan returns to the starting line-up.
The former Brentford player was set to come off the bench against Millwall before an injury to Chris Samba forced Villa into a late reshuffle.
The centre-back’s injury could see a return to the starting XI for Tommy Elphick, who has barely featured this season but who has the talent to excel despite some Villa fans failing to take to him thus far.
With all that in mind here is how we expect Villa to line up when they face Derby on Saturday afternoon:
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
