Aston Villa take on Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League this evening, looking to earn a positive result against the European behemoths.
Manager Unai Emery needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat to secure a respectable result at Villa Park against the six-time Champions League winners. He made a couple of bold changes for the visit of the Bavarians.
Emery handed a first start of the season to academy graduate Jaden Philogene. The last time the 22-year-old started a game for the Villans was in 2021.
Since then, Villa have sold the Hammersmith-born star to Hull City and brought him back to bolster their options ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Philogene made some Premier League appearances off the bench this season but has not started a game. However, Emery trusted him enough to throw him into the deep end against Bayern, where he is expected to fill in at right-wing-back.
Matty Cash has been out since the Arsenal game, forcing Emery to use Lamare Bogarde and Kosta Nedeljkovic in his stead, but they did not live up to expectations.
He also experimented with Ezri Konsa in the right-back position, but for the Bayern game, the coach ripped the old manuscript and introduced a new formation.
Villa are set to line-up in a back three to weather the storm coming from Bayern in the form of Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane, Thomas Muller, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, Mathys Tel and Michael Olise.
Emery will hope that having three centre-backs will give them the edge to withstand Bayern’s coming slew of attacks. He will also be banking on attackers like the in-form duo of Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins to deliver the goods up top.
Aston Villa Confirmed Line-up v Bayern
(3-4-2-1): Emiliano Martinez; Ezri Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres; Lucas Digne; Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans, Jaden Philogene; Morgan Rogers, Jacob Ramsey; Ollie Watkins.
Subs: Kosta Nedeljkovic, Matty Cash, Ian Maatsen, Lamare Bogarde, Young, Sil Swinkels, Ross Barkley, Emiliano Buendia, Leon Bailey, Jhon Duran, Oliwier Zych, Joe Gauci (gk).
