Steven Gerrard has had four days to prepare his Aston Villa side for Thursday’s Premier League clash with Fulham at Craven Cottage. The Villans come into the game on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday.
The Englishman will be without long-term absentees Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos, while Ludwig Augustinsson and Lucas Digne remain out. However, there is some good news regarding Cameron Archer, who is expected to return after missing the loss to Chelsea due to a bug.
“We are as we were,” Gerrard said in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “We had a couple of bumps, bruises, kicks and tightness from the last game but no one is going to miss out on the back of it. We’ll also have Cameron Archer back into the frame because he’s over the little bug that he had which ruled him out of the weekend.”
As for Digne, Gerrard has confirmed he won’t feature against the Cottagers on Thursday and Brentford on Sunday, but could be available for Villa’s game with Newcastle United the following weekend. He said: “Lucas could be on the grass today [Wednesday] for the first time, which is a big step.
“He’s come out of a boot and done some running on a machine that takes a certain amount of your weight away and now the process will be to try and build him up. There’s an outside chance that he could be around the Newcastle game. That’s where Lucas is.”
With that being said, let’s take a look at how the Villans could line-up against Fulham at Craven Cottage. We expect Gerrard to make one change to his starting XI that played against Chelsea.
“We are as we were,” Gerrard said in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “We had a couple of bumps, bruises, kicks and tightness from the last game but no one is going to miss out on the back of it. We’ll also have Cameron Archer back into the frame because he’s over the little bug that he had which ruled him out of the weekend.”
5. Left-back - Ashley Young
The experienced full-back has been one of Villa’s best performers this season and is expected to keep his place in the side.
6. Centre-midfield - Jacob Ramsey
Likely to retain his position in the middle of the park after featuring in all of Villa’s games so far.
7. Centre-midfield - Douglas Luiz
The Brazilian has been a regular since Kamara’s injury and is expected to remain in a midfield-three.
8. Centre-midfield - John McGinn
The club captain was one of their best players against Chelsea, making five tackles.