Aston Villa vs Sheffield Wednesday: Predicted Starting XI
By Clayton Nass
The reunion is finally here. Aston Villa will make the trip north to take on Sheffield Wednesday, in their first clash against former boss Steve Bruce following his sacking last October.
Steve Bruce was on the other side of the manager’s box the last time these two teams met at Villa Park. The result of that game was a loss for him, but a win for his current club, Sheffield Wednesday. Per BBC, The Owls leading goal-scorer Steven Fletcher may be available following an absence due to various leg injuries. The fact that he is dealing with two separate issues would lead me to believe he would not play. However, if he is available, this would be a huge boost for Steve Bruce’s men, as Fletcher has accounted for over 20% of the team’s goals scored this season.
Wednesday currently sit on 56 points, just 4 behind 6th place Aston Villa. The pressure here is almost assuredly on Sheffield Wednesday, as they cannot continue to draw matches should they expect to push for promotion. (They also have a dastardly run-in that includes 6 matches against top-10 opposition.)
Meanwhile, not a whole lot should change for the Aston Villa side that saw off Blackburn 2-1 at the weekend. Injury plagued Tom Carroll has returned to his parent club, Swansea City, following the news that his current ailment will sideline him for the remainder of the season. This does not really affect the team at all, as he has only seen playing time in 2 matches thus far. The only lineup questions that Dean Smith could consider are that of the inclusion of Axel Tuanzebe, and who will occupy the holding midfielder role (Whelan/Hourihane)?
Predicted Aston Villa XI (4-3-3): Steer, Elmohamady, Hause, Mings, Taylor; Whelan, McGinn, Grealish; El Ghazi, Abraham, Green
Substitutes: Kalanic, Tuanzebe, Hourihane, Kodjia, Davis, Jedinak, Adomah
This should be a relatively unchanged team to the one that has had such a great run of success recently. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. UTV
WHEN: 06 April, 2019 @ 14:00 GMT / 10:00 a.m. EST
WHERE: Hillsborough Stadium
PREDICTION: 2-1 Villa (El Ghazi, Abraham)