Aston Villa will be under the lights once again on Monday evening when they face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
The Villans are unbeaten in their last three Premier League games, winning once and drawing twice, and sit 14th in the table.
Steven Gerrard’s side will be without four players for their trip to bottom-of-the-league Forest, with Ludwig Augustinsson ruled out for three weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in Villa’s 0-0 draw with Leeds United last Monday.
The Swede joins Lucas Digne, Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos as players unavailable to Gerrard.
However, the Villans’ boss will have several names back in contention on Monday, with Matty Cash likely to return from injury, while Calum Chambers is also fit.
“Matty Cash is back in full training and he’s available for Nottingham Forest,” Gerrard said in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
“Calum Chambers has done half of the session today and he’ll continue to pick training up from now until Monday. He’s got a decent chance to be involved.
“Ludwig Augustinsson will be out for around three weeks – he’s got a hamstring injury on the back of the Leeds game.
“We’ve also got Leon Bailey, who has got a small muscle issue. He’s a doubt for the weekend but he’s not totally ruled out.
“In terms of Lucas Digne, it’s a complicated one that’s going to rumble on for a few more weeks before we can assess it. I’ll have some news on Digne in a couple of weeks, but he won’t be available for Forest.”
With that being said. Let’s take a look at who we think Gerrard will select in his starting XI against Forest on Monday…

5. Left-back - Ashley Young
The full-back shifted to the left side of defence after Augustinsson was forced off and is expected to start there on Monday. | Getty Images

6. Defensive-midfield - Douglas Luiz
Replaced Kamara in the starting XI against Leeds and is likely to remain in the holding-midfield role in the former’s absence. | Getty Images

7. Centre-midfield - Jacob Ramsey
The 21-year-old has impressed this season, scoring once and providing an assist. He’s expected to continue in a midfield-three. | Getty Images

8. Centre-midfield - John McGinn
The Villa captain has started all of their game this campaign and is likely to maintain his place in Gerrard’s starting XI. | Getty Images


