Aston Villa return to action in the Premier League this afternoon as Bournemouth arrive at Villa Park, giving Unai Emery a key decision to make over his starting XI.
Aston Villa will still be on a high from their dramatic Europa Conference League quarter-final against Lille on Thursday, in which Unai Emery’s side played 120 minutes before winning the tie on penalties in France.
Considering that the fixture was only three days ago, the Villans must now channel their energy into a must-win Premier League duel with Bournemouth at Villa Park.
It won’t be easy for the hosts to battle for 90 minutes against the Cherries after their efforts in Lille earlier this week, however, given that the fight for the top-four has kickstarted, Emery’s side must ensure they claim three points this afternoon.
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With Arsenal, Manchester City, West Ham and Liverpool thrown out of Europe this week, fourth place will now be the target for both Spurs and Villa to claim Champions League football next term, making every game a must-win with five fixtures to go.
Some rotation could be expected from the manager when selecting his XI to face Bournemouth, with one defensive decision surely needing to be considered after the hard-fought victory in Lille.
Unai Emery must boldly ditch Diego Carlos against Bournemouth
One of the key talking points from Emery’s selection against Lille was his call to start Matty Cash at right-back to allow Ezri Konsa to return to his favoured central defensive role.
In recent weeks, there have been some question marks over the Englishman’s suitability at right-back, giving the manager a key decision to now make against Bournemouth.
Starting Cash would be the safest option for the boss, allowing Konsa to move to centre-back to partner Pau Torres however, such rotation would cause an upset for Diego Carlos.
Handed man of the match and dubbed Villa’s “man-mountain” against Arsenal last week by Gary Neville, strengthening the right side against Bournemouth would cruelly see the Brazilian miss out after his heroics at the Emirates.
It’s a tough decision for Emery to make, however, one that may be essential given Cash’s strengths at playing as an out-and-out fullback, with Konsa far better at centre-back, as seen by his performance against Lille.
Aston Villa must win against Bournemouth this afternoon
Now that it’s clear that fourth place is what Villa must achieve to make their Champions League dream a reality, the hosts must fight for a win against the Cherries this afternoon to commence their run-in of the final five games of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
Bournemouth won’t be easy to overcome, as Emery knows from the Villans’ 2-2 draw at the Vitality Stadium back in November, with a number of Andoni Iraola’s side having the talent to cause Villa problems.
Implementing more stability to the back line will be cruel for Carlos but essential for Villa, who must collect three points this afternoon.
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