Aston Villa team news as Unai Emery opts for ONE changes for Premier League clash with Bournemouth

Manager Unai Emery has named his Aston Villa team for this afternoon’s Premier League meeting with AFC Bournemouth at Villa Park.

Emery has largely kept faith with the Villa team that lost 2-0 at Liverpool last weekend, making a single change to his starting eleven against the Cherries.

Evann Guessand drops to the bench as one of six changes from Thursday’s Europa League win against Maccabi Tel Aviv, with Emi Buendía given the start after returning from injury as a substitute in midweek.

Villa return to their familiar back four with Matty Cash and Lucas Digne flanking Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres, while Boubacar Kamara comes back into the midfield two with Amadou Onana.

The ludicrous Harvey Elliott situation continues

Once again, there is no place in the matchday squad for Harvey Elliott, who is on loan to Villa from Liverpool and just doesn’t seem to be in Emery’s thinking in the slightest.

Having been left out against Manchester City and been ineligible against his parent club last weekend, this is the third Premier League fixture in a row for which the former England Under-21 international has been omitted from the squad.

In all honesty, the situation is ridiculous. None of it makes any sense.

I can’t understand why Emery would allow Elliott to be signed if he was unwanted to this extent, nor why he wouldn’t want him. I cannot fathom why Elliott would go anywhere near a situation like this in a World Cup year, which suggests it wasn’t the plan as laid out to him on transfer deadline day.

The focus today has to be on the players who are involved but this debacle is weird and unnecessary. Only Emery knows his reasons and he has done enough at Villa Park to deserve our trust on the matter, but I think – and have always thought – that Elliott improves this Villa team at a stroke.

It’s bizarre.

Aston Villa team news in full

Starting XI: Martínez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Onana, Kamara, McGinn, Buendía, Rogers, Watkins

Substitutes: Bizot, Lindelöf, Maatsen, Bogarde, Barkley, Tielemans, Guessand, Sancho, Malen

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