Leeds United and Aston Villa will go head-to-head in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon as top flight football resumes following the international break.
The Whites are hoping to get back to winning ways after back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Nottingham Forest. Meanwhile, Villa are fresh from a 4-0 win over Bournemouth two weeks ago and will keen to continue their upward momentum.
Both sides have got some injury concerns heading into the game too, and this is how GIVEMESPORT expects the teams to line up.
Leeds Team News
Daniel Farke has confirmed that Leeds have a clean bill of health for the clash with Aston Villa. It means that the Whites are in a strong position to try and get some points on the board at Elland Road.
Farke Drops Team News Update
Discussing Dan James and Leeds’ other Wales stars who reached the World Cup play-offs, Farke said: “The Welsh players are in a really good mood. One or two a bit more disappointing results for other lads. The most important thing is no one came back injured.
“I have all the players available, not one player injured. We had a proper training week with the lads who were here. Today we had the whole group back on the training pitch and 48 more hours to prepare. Everyone is in a good mood, the sun is shining — it’s cold, but the sun is still shining, so I can’t complain.”
Leeds Predicted XI
- Leeds predicted XI: Perri; Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Gudmundsson; Stach, Ampadu, Longstaff; Aaronson, Nmecha, Okafor
- Leeds Predicted Subs: Darlow, Bijol, James, Calvert-Lewin, Piroe, Harrison, Tanaka, Justin, Gruev
A clean bill of health means that Farke can have his pick of the bunch at Elland Road. With three points needed, he’ll be hoping for a better performance than they managed against Forest before the international break.
That could mean another tough decision to leave £100,000 a week star Calvert-Lewin on the bench, along with Wlsh star Dan James.
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Aston Villa Team News
Villa are hoping to have four key players back in contention for the clash with Leeds. Ezri Konsa, Matty Cash, Amadou Onana and Lamare Bogarde all picked up knocks during the international break but are expected to feature.
Tyrone Mings, however, will miss the trip to Elland Road.
Emery Drops Team News Update
Emery spoke out on Aston Villa’s injury situation ahead of the clash at Elland Road.
“Today, the last players joined with us after playing, performing for their national teams,” said Emery. Normally, we give them two days off after their last match playing there.
“The only player ruled out for Sunday is Tyrone Mings.
“And other players, tomorrow we’ll train, the last training session, normally, it could be everyone available.”
Regarding the quartet, Emery added: “Tomorrow we’ll see it, they are training. Amadou is the only player, he’s progressing well. Tomorrow we’ll see how he’s progressing.
“Tomorrow, the other players, hopefully will be available for Sunday.”
Aston Villa Predicted XI
- Aston Villa predicted line up: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Kamara, Tielemans; McGinn, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins
- Aston Villa predicted subs: Barkley, Malen, Sancho, Bogarde, Guessend, Lindelof, Maatsen, Bizot, Onana
Fresh from a 4-0 win over Bournemouth, Emery will be keen to make as few changes as possible against Leeds. That said, he could be forced to leave Onana out if he’s not deemed to be fully fit.
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