As the first fixture of Aston Villa’s Australian tour beckons against Leeds United, hear my thoughts on how I can see the game going and what I believe you can expect from both sides.
For starters, I think we will see a full strength claret and blue side, with Jesse Marsch’s team providing the toughest perceived test for the Villans in the Queensland Champions Cup. Steven Gerrard will not look to take many risks and will be hopeful of a result, but the 42 year-old boss is expected to experiment slightly and tweak things as the game plays out as the game is ultimately a friendly and presents itself as an opportunity to try different things.
For AVFC fans, I’m sure the most exciting prospect for them is spectating some of the club’s new signings for the first time – namely Boubacar Kamara and Ludwig Augustinsson.
Kamara, if picked, will make his first appearance for his new side since joining on a free from French club Marseille in May. The midfielder has the claret and blue faithful’s mouth-watering after being labelled as ‘the missing piece of the puzzle’ in the side, with a defensive midfielder sought after for some time.
The latest recruit, Ludwig Augustinsson, will also be making his first appearance for the Midlands side should the Swedish defender find some time on the pitch come Sunday. The loanee has spent the last few days meeting his new teammates and participating in his first few training sessions after meeting with the squad down-under earlier this week – it will be between the 28 year-old, Lucas Digne, youngster Ben Chrisene and Ashley Young fighting for that starting position.
For many, seeing Diego Carlos in claret and blue will be a first time thing, but the Brazilian centre-half did feature in the first-half of pre-season opener against Walsall last week. It seems as if Carlos and Captain Tyrone Mings will be the go-to defensive partnership at the base of the side, and seeing their relationship progress will be another factor that both fans and Steven Gerrard will be hopeful of this weekend.
As for Leeds United, it will be the second time that the Whites’ faithful watch their new recruits in action, after the Yorkshire club played their Queensland Champions Cup opener on Thursday against Brisbane Roar – a game that saw Marsch’s side come out victorious with a 2-1 win.
New players such as Brenden Aaronson, Luis Sinisterra and Rasmus Kristensen are likely to feature, whilst other important players such as Patrick Bamford and Daniel James are also expected to get game time.
I think Sunday’s game will be closely contested, with each side trying to get back into the speed of things and regain the fitness levels needed when playing Premier League football. As a result, I believe the start of the game will be somewhat cagey and few chances will present itself at either end.
As the game carries out, we will either see players start to tire or individuals taking the game by the scruff of the neck and be more expressive on the ball. This is where I think Villa will excel as quality shines throughout the team and therefore I believe we will see a number of goals from the claret and blue side.
The danger stems from the readiness of the new signings and how adaptive they will be during their first minutes in the side. This applies to both teamshowever, and given the number of new recruits in the Leeds camp, I believe Steven Gerrard’s side will come away triumphant.
Regardless of the result though, the important thing is the match minutes and proof that Gerrard’s implementation of new philosophies and system styles are in place. The players appear to be training hard and well in the training content, and Sunday’s game gives the squad an opportunity to showcase their hard-work and put it all into practice.
If i was to give a prediction, I would opt for a 3-1 Aston Villa win, with goals from Ollie Watkins, John McGinn and Matty Cash. As stated however, the result is not the most important take-away, and boss Steven Gerrard sums up what he wants from game, saying: “Thatβs what you want to see as a manager that people are taking on information and are prepared to go out and perform on the main stage.β
The gaffer also mentioned that “the majority of the players will play 45 minutes each.”, so we are seemingly going to see at least 21 players in action this weekend. I for one cannot wait for the game, and I am sure the majority of the Villa fans cannot either.
Be sure to look out for further content from utvpodcast.co.uk this weekend, where the team will be covering everything pre and post game. Content for the fixture to follow against Brisbane Roar will also come from the start of the week, where you can expect a ‘team news’, ‘match preview’ and another ‘pre-match thoughts’ from yours truly. UTV!
AUTHOR | LIAM DAVIES
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive liamayrtondavies – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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