Aston Villa vs. Queens Park Rangers: Predicted lineup – October 26th
By Josh Tonti
Aston Villa Football Club looks to rebound on Friday after a midweek defeat at Norwich City. Loftus Road is the venue as Queens Park Rangers host Dean Smith & Co.
QPR manager Steve McClaren has his team on a roll – undefeated in his side’s last four league matches with three victories over: Reading, Ipswich Town, and Sheffield Wednesday. The R’s trounced the Owls on Tuesday to the tune of 3-0 as Tomer Hemed, Luke Freeman, and Nahki Wells all netted goals.
It looks as though McClaren could call upon an unchanged starting XI.
On the year, central defenders Joel Lynch and Toni Leistner have been QPR’s most impressive contributors this season, per WhoScored. Versatile defender/midfielder Geoff Cameron has made a strong impression as well as a late summer arrival. Hemed and attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze are the club’s joint-leading goalscorers on three apiece.
Aston Villa’s traveling eighteen should mostly be the same, but I expect some changes to the starting XI.
Aston Villa Predicted Starting XI (4-3-3): Nyland; Hutton, Chester (c), Tuanzebe, Taylor; Bjarnason, McGinn, Grealish; Elmohamady, Kodjia, El Ghazi.
Substitutes: Bunn, Jedinak, Whelan, Hourihane, Bolasie, Hogan, Abraham.
Tammy Abraham and Albert Adomah were forced off with injuries on Tuesday, but neither are considered serious. Villa should be extra cautious about protecting Tammy – who exited with a suspected concussion. They could both start, or both miss out.
Ørjan Nyland isn’t going anywhere at the moment, but he must turn it around quickly. James Chester and Axel Tuanzebe continue their centre-back partnership. A change at fullback, however, wouldn’t be too surprising as Alan Hutton and Neil Taylor will be gassed playing 3 matches in 6 days.
Thankfully, John McGinn returns from suspension while Birkir Bjarnason is likely to re-enter for Glenn Whelan. Up top, Anwar El Ghazi and Jonathan Kodjia replace Adomah and Abraham. Yannick Bolasie’s status is worth monitoring as well. He’s yet to start under Dean Smith and missed out on the eighteen entirely on Tuesday.
Next. Dean Smith Proving To Think Critically. dark
Is he still not fit? Or just really not performing well in training?