Dean Smith takes charge of Aston Villa for the first time this weekend.
Aston Villa take on Swansea City at Villa Park this weekend – and Dean Smith will take charge of Villa for the first time.
After Kevin MacDonald took caretaker charge of the defeat at Millwall following Steve Bruce’s sacking, Villa now have a new permanent manager in place having appointed Smith last week.
The 47-year-old left Brentford last Wednesday in order to take over as Villa boss, fulfilling a boyhood dream having grown up supporting Villa.
Smith has had a week to get to know some of his Villa squad, with others returning from the international break ahead of this weekend’s game.
Smith has some major decisions to make for his first team selection, starting with his goalkeeper, but Orjan Nyland may just get the nod over Mark Bunn or Andre Moreira.
James Bree should keep his place at right back, joining Axel Tuanzebe, James Chester and Neil Taylor across the back four, with Alan Hutton dropping out.
If Smith goes with a 4-2-3-1, as he has previously with Brentford, then the hard-working pair of Birkir Bjarnason and John McGinn could be a decent partnership, even if it means Conor Hourihane drops out.
Playing Jack Grealish as a number 10 has been something Villa fans have demanded and this system allows that, with Yannick Bolasie and Anwar El Ghazi out wide, supporting striker Tammy Abraham; three Bruce signings.
That would leave the likes of Bunn, Hutton and Hourihane on the bench, with one players out in the cold under Steve Bruce – Scott Hogan – potentially in line for a recall to the bench, whilst Jonathan Kodjia, Glenn Whelan and Ahmed Elmohamady should also be in the squad.
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