International football has concluded and Aston Villa fans can look forward to some exciting football landing on their doorstep in the coming weeks.
Aston Villa will play seven games in all competitions from now until the next set of international fixtures arrive in October.
It starts with Everton at the weekend and finishes off with another home clash against Manchester United, with Villa’s standout tie being against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
After three Premier League games, Unai Emery hasn’t rotated his XI for fitness or tactical reasons, other than forced changes because of injury, such as Lamare Bogarde coming in for Matty Cash.
The larger squad will now be used because of the fixture pile-up and fans are going to get to see just how strong their bench strength is.
But how and when Emery rotates his XI is going to be crucial, both in terms of managing his players, ensuring he keeps the balance and that the XI remains as strong as possible.
Some would argue that Villa’s clash against Everton on Saturday is the perfect time for him to do just that because of the situation Sean Dyche’s side find themselves in.
Everton are bottom of the Premier League table after losing their opening three matches and, before the international break, they were 2-0 up at home against Bournemouth after 87 minutes, yet they still managed to lose the match.
Jhon Duran must remain on the bench for Aston Villa
To the delight of Emery and the fans, Jhon Duran has scored two winners from the bench for Villa and is now chomping at the bit for a start.
But this is where Emery must keep Ollie Watkins in the XI and for the Champions League opener away at Young Boys on Tuesday night.
Watkins returned early from England duty to nurse an injury issue, but he should be fit for the Everton match and ready to score that much-needed first goal of the campaign.
Duran’s first start can come next week at home to Wolves followed up by a trip to Wycombe for an EFL Cup clash days later, and then the rotation can begin.
Plus, Watkins needs that goal as soon as possible, rather than still being without a goal in a few weeks time.
Aston Villa’s injured players
Leon Bailey, Matty Cash, Diego Carlos and Jaden Philogene all missed the win over Leicester City, with the hope that they will be back during this run of seven matches in a month.
READ MORE: Monchi shares what Jhon Duran really ‘thinks’ about Aston Villa teammate Ollie Watkins
Then, on a positive note, Boubacar Kamara is back in Villa training after his season-ending injury in February, as well as Tyrone Mings also returning to action.
Just as the games pile-up, this is good news for the team, but everyone is going to need luck in these players staying out of the treatment room because if they do, then Villa can cause some serious damage.
