Ipswich Town will be aiming to cause an upset as Aston Villa travel to Portman Road on Sunday on the back of an excellent start.
Unai Emery’s men have secured four wins from five games but the wins for Aston Villa haven’t been too convincing.
Villa came from behind in victories over Everton and Wolves while winning by a one goal scoreline against West Ham and Leicester City.
The Champions League side are placed prominently in the Premier League table and will want to keep up with the early pacesetters this weekend.
Paul Merson and Chris Sutton both think Villa will secure all three points against Ipswich, as do Ian Wright, Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane, who predict an away victory.
Aston Villa team news vs Ipswich Town
In his pre-match press conference on Friday, Emery did have several injury updates to share, including on midfielder John McGinn.
The Scottish international was substituted with a hamstring injury in the win over Wolves, with the Aston Villa boss now confirming his absence for the next two to three weeks.
McGinn isn’t the only player currently sidelined for Villa, as Matty Cash continues to recover from the injury he sustained against Arsenal.
Cash hoped to return for the Champions League clash against Bayern Munich on Wednesday but it remains to be seen whether his wish comes true.
Diego Carlos – who withdrew from the squad for Villa’s Carabao Cup win over Wycombe – remains a doubt for the trip to Portman Road.
Emery did have some positive news to deliver on two of his other players, with Boubacar Kamara and Tyrone Mings set to return to the Aston Villa squad after the international break, as long as everything goes to plan.
Aston Villa predicted XI vs Ipswich Town
Emi Martinez starts in goal for Aston Villa, as usual, with the Argentine looking to improve his expected goals-against record.
The Villa defence is where it gets the most interesting, as Carlos could drop out of the side if he’s injured. However, since Emery didn’t provide an update on the Brazilian, it’s assumed he’s fit enough to start.
The Villans should therefore line up with the same back four that beat Wolves, including Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, Carlos and Lucas Digne.
In the midweek win over Wycombe, Emery trialled a midfield of Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana, though Youri Tielemans will return to the starting XI here.
Replacing the injured McGinn should be the ‘amazing’ Leon Bailey, starting on the right wing with the freedom to cause Leif Davis problems.
Morgan Rogers will continue in his attacking midfield role after assisting twice last weekend with Jacob Ramsey on the left and Ollie Watkins leading the line.
Emery did tease the idea of playing Watkins and Jhon Duran together however, it remains to be seen whether he goes with that.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Konsa, Carlos, Pau, Digne; Onana, Tielemans; Bailey, Rogers, Ramsey; Watkins.
