Sheffield Wednesday face the team their manager has described as the best in the Championship, Aston Villa, on Saturday.
Sheffield Wednesday returned to winning ways against Millwall this week, but their joy could be short lived with a difficult trip to Aston Villa ahead.
At his press conference on Thursday, Wednesday head coach Carlos Carvalhal claimed Villa are the best team in the Championship, despite sitting in fifth place – seven points above the Owls – at present.
Wednesday’s selection is likely, therefore, to reflect Carvalhal’s respect for the opposition, despite the Portuguese insisting he would never alter his tactics simply to nullify others.
And a switch back to three central midfielders, as opposed to the two-man system he’s employed in recent weeks, is perhaps to be expected.
That should mean a return for Kieran Lee, who is likely to have Barry Bannan and one of Jacob Butterfield and David Jones for company, at the expense of either Ross Wallace or Morgan Fox, with Adam Reach dropped to left-back in the latter case.
Elsewhere, Jack Hunt is a good bet to return at right full-back, while Jordan Rhodes – an open target for Aston Villa before Wednesday pounced in January – will hope to keep his place in attack after ending a seven-month-long league goal drought on Tuesday.
Here’s how we think the Owls could look:
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