League Match 40: Aston Villa host QPR

Aston Villa host Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday in another test of the English second division. The claret and blues need three points to continue their playoff hopes.

Queens Park Rangers boss Ian Holloway has his R’s set on fifty points – four below Aston Villa. Last Friday, the club narrowly lost to Derby County by a scoreline of 1-0.

QPR are led in scoring by Idrissa Sylla followed closely by Northern Ireland international Conor Washington. The pair have eight and six goals respectively.

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Mile Jedinak’s Australia teammate Massimo Luongo returns to the squad after sitting out Friday’s defeat.

The West London club is anchored in defense by goalkeeper Alex Smithies and central defender Nedum Onuoha.

For Villa, much of the same news against QPR. With just a short, two day recovery window, how will Steve Bruce’s men fair?

It will be interesting to see if any players sit this match-up with another game on Saturday. Bruce can not really afford to rest players with just seven league matches remaining.

PROJECTED ASTON VILLA XI: Johnstone; Hutton, Chester (c), Baker, Taylor; Adomah, Lansbury, Jedinak, Hourihane; Hogan, Kodjia.

Substitutes: Bunn, Elphick, Bree, Amavi, Gardner, Grealish, Green.

Steve Bruce goes back to the well with the exact same starting eleven and substitutes’ bench. Villa will play an overloaded 4-4-2 with Hourihane tucking-in centrally.

The backline, which remains unchanged, looks for seven clean sheets in eight matches.

The developing partnership of Scott Hogan and Jonathan Kodjia is worth watching. The two forwards will be a major part of the club next year, and a healthy dose of scoring is a must.

Kickoff is 2:45PM Eastern Time.

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