Aston Villa got their preseason tour of Asia off to a nice start, as they bested the Indonesia All-Stars 3-1 at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium last night. It was a great way to get things kicked off, but the turnaround is tight to the next match, a clash with BG Pathum United in Pathum Thani, Thailand.
With such a short layoff in between games, you can expect Aston Villa manager Unai Emery to make wholesale changes to his first team lineup.
Preseason FYIs
Aston Villa vs BG Pathum United
Kickoff: Tue. Aug 4, 730pm local
Venue: BG Stadium, Pathum Thani, Thailand
Details on Aston Villa’s Long-term Injured: go here
Aston Villa Team News, World Cup Related Absentees
Injury wise, there is nothing new at all to report; absolutely nothing.
However, Boubacar Kamara and Tammy Abraham are still working their way back to fitness after recovering from serious injuries. Amadou Onana is set to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season, with an ACL injury.
New signing Johan Manzambi is injured, but he wouldn’t be available even if he were healthy, due to his involvement with Switzerland, who made a deep run at the World Cup.
He’s on post World Cup leave, as are the likes of Emiliano Martinez, Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne.
So that is that, when it comes to who won’t be playing on Tuesday night. Now it’s time to focus on who is, or at least, our projection of who might be.
Aston Villa Predicted Starting XI vs BG Pathum United
Marco Bizot; Matty Cash, Pau Torres, Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen; Ross Barkley, John McGinn (c), Alysson; Emi Buendia, Alejandro Garnacho; Brian Madjo
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.