The embarrassment of riches at Aston Villa must make the starting XI selections extremely difficult for Unai Emery. In this match against PSG, he is opting to leave Marco Asensio on the bench to start the fixture. Ollie Watkins will also look to potentially enter as a substitute as well. With two players of this quality starting off the pitch, it only illustrates how deep Villa are.
Starting up top, Marcus Rashford received the nod. He will look to get in behind the backline that will be missing Marquinhos due to yellow card accumulation. Behind him will be three strong players in the attack with the skipper, John McGinn, Morgan Rogers, and Jacob Ramsey.
As mentioned, the currently on-loan player from PSG, Asensio, is not going to be on the field from the opening whistle. Rest assured, if the game starts off slow or if Emery feels the need to reinvigorate the attack, the Spaniard will be called on.
Supporting them and serving as a link, Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara will play an absolutely critical role for the Premier League side. If they play at the level that they are always capable of, this should be an area of strength and advantage for Villa. Between winning the ball back and keeping possession, the two holding midfielders are as good as they come.
Emery trusting the Aston Villa depth
In front of Emiliano Martínez will be Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres, and Lucas Digne. Considering three of the back four didn't see playing time against Nottingham Forest, they should have relatively fresh legs for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final matchup.
Torres has looked good when Emery has placed him in the lineup, and Cash, along with Digne, are excellent at joining in the build-up at any point as well. So far, Emery has been proven right in his decisions. He trusts everyone on this roster, and this collective group, whether starting on the pitch or otherwise, is more than capable of making a difference.