Aston Villa look to bounce back from the Boxing Day defeat at Old Trafford and end 2023 with a win as they face Vincent Kompany’s Burnley in the Premier League.
Here’s the latest heading into this afternoon’s claret and blue clash at Villa Park…
Assistant Editor: Liam Davies
THE BUILD UP
Unai Emery’s side enter today’s fixture win-less in their last two Premier League fixtures, drawing at home to Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United, before the Boxing Day defeat away at Old Trafford which saw The Red Devils come from 2-0 down at half-time to defeat the Villans.
Goals from John McGinn and a first in claret and blue for Leander Dendoncker had the away side two up at the break, but a second-half comeback, inspired by winger Alejandro Garnacho, who scored twice, alongside Rasmus Højland’s winner saw Villa lose for the first time in eight Premier League games.
The West-Midlands outfit look to quickly bounce back from recent results with a victory over relegation-threatened Burnley.
The two sides have already faced off this season; a game that saw Emery’s side victorious at Turf Moor with Matty Cash grabbing a brace and Moussa Diaby converting either side of a Lyle Foster strike for a 3-1 Villa victory.
Last time out for the Clarets was a festive home fixture against Jürgen Klopps’s title-chasing Liverpool. It was a comfortable afternoon for the Reds in Lancashire as goals from Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota helped the Merseyside team to a 2-0 triumph.
Unai Emery is hoping for a reaction from his players at Villa Park this afternoon, highlighting the importance of ‘learning’ and building ‘consistency’.
On today’s big game, the head coach said: “Always we are trying to improve and analyse greatly everything we are doing – sometimes being successful, more than less, thankfully. Sometimes, of course, we are not successful.
“Even losing in Manchester, even drawing against Sheffield, we are being consistent in our way.”
TEAM NEWS
ASTON VILLA
Aston Villa will be without full-back Lucas Digne for this weekend’s game against Burnley after the Frenchman suffered a hamstring injury during the second-half of the recent defeat against Manchester United.
Digne has played 18 of the 19 Premier League games for the Villans this season but faces up to a month out. Àlex Moreno replaces the 30-year-old in the back-line.
On the number 12, Unai Emery said: “Lucas Digne is injured, he’s going to be out of the team for some weeks.
“I think Álex is ready, and we will hope Lucas is coming back in 20-25 days.”
Centre-back Pau Torres is also expected to miss the upcoming game at B6 through injury with Clément Lenglet keeping his place in the starting eleven alongside Diego Carlos. Torres made the bench at Old Trafford but is ‘not 100%’ after suffering a small injury against Brentford earlier this month.
Elsewhere, Boubacar Kamara remains suspended, Matty Cash returns, while Bertrand Traoré, Robin Olsen, Emi Buendía and Tyrone Mings are out with injury.
BURNLEY
Burnley are reportedly in ‘good shape’ ahead of this afternoon’s trip to the West-Midlands.
Vincent Kompany welcomed both Jóhann Guðmundsson and former Villan Aaron Ramsey back to the match-day squad for the Boxing Day test against Liverpool and are in contention to face the Birmingham-based outfit today.
Midfielder Hjalmar Ekdal remains unavailable for the Clarets, however; the Swedish midfielder has missed the previous three games in the league through injury.
Elsewhere, 19-year-old winger Luca Koleosho (knee) and veteran midfielder Jack Cork are absent through injury.
Providing an update on the condition of his squad, Vincent Kompany said: “We’re recovering players as we speak. Maybe not everyone is 100 per cent how I’d like them in terms of fitness because they’ve been coming back from an injury, but these things just need a little bit of time.”
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A BIT ON BURNLEY…
Following promotion to the Premier League last season, which saw the Clarets top the EFL Championship table with 101 points, Burnley have experienced a tough start to life back in the top flight. Kompany’s side find themselves 19th in the division at the half-way point in the season, five points adrift of safety.
The Lancashire-based outfit began the campaign with consecutive defeats against Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur, before picking up their first point of the term away at Nottingham Forest.
It has been a torrid 2023/24 campaign since as the Clarets have won just three times, defeating Luton Town, Sheffield United, Fulham, accumulating a total of eleven points after 19 games; numbers that put the club in a worrying position and look destined for the drop.
Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery was complimentary of Burnley and their style of play, highlighting Kompany’s tactical adaption and the difficulty of the upcoming fixture.
On today’s opponents, the former Sevilla and Villarreal boss said: “I appreciate a lot how they are playing and competing. They are a team that’s adapting everything they need to improve.
His managerial counterpart, Kompany, was full of praise for the Aston Villa said and the work the Spaniard has done, believing that Villa will ‘keep improving’ under his stewardship.
On today’s opposition, the Belgian head coach said: “When we played them earlier in the season, I felt straight away they were a strong team. There is a clear structure and they know what they want to do.
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MY PREDICTED LINE-UP
Let’s take a look at my predicted line-up for this upcoming fixture at Villa Park…
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