Aston Villa will look to end their mid-season preparations on a high when Unai Emery welcomes his former club Villarreal to Villa Park for a friendly encounter on Thursday night.
Both teams won their most recent warm-up matches, with Villa securing a slender victory over Chelsea, while the Yellow Submarine came out on top in a seven-goal thriller against Galatasaray.
Match preview
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Following the departure of Steven Gerrard in the middle of October, Aston Villa have made a solid start to life under the tutelage of Unai Emery, who won two of his first three competitive games in charge of the club before the World Cup break.
Villa suffered a 4-2 defeat in the EFL Cup third round against Manchester United on November 10, but the Spaniard steered his new side to successive Premier League victories against the Red Devils and Brighton & Hove Albion, and they have subsequently moved up to 12th in the table.
Emery has since had time to work with the vast majority of his squad – as only four players jetted off to Qatar at the beginning of the World Cup – and they have experienced a mixed set of results during the mid-season break.
Villa were on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline against Championship outfit Cardiff City on November 30, before playing out a 2-2 draw with Brighton eight days later. Emery and co then returned to winning ways with a narrow 1-0 victory against Chelsea in Abu Dhabi, courtesy of a seventh-minute strike from John McGinn.
Villa's friendly fixture against Villarreal – a side they have never previously faced – will be followed by one final warm-up match against an unnamed Premier League club behind closed doors before they return to top-flight action at home against Liverpool on Boxing Day.
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Villarreal appointed former Barcelona and Real Betis boss Quique Setien as their new head coach on October 25, a mere 24 hours after Emery took the Aston Villa hotseat.
The 64-year-old endured a difficult start to his reign with the Yellow Submarine, losing his first three matches by an aggregate score of 6-0. However, Villarreal secured back-to-back wins before the World Cup break, with a slender 1-0 La Liga victory away against Espanyol followed by an emphatic 9-0 success against sixth-tier outfit CD Santa Amalia in the first round of the Copa del Rey.
Villarreal, who currently sit ninth in La Liga and just three points behind the top four, have taken part in two mid-season friendly fixtures so far this month, with a 2-1 defeat against Fenerbahce in Istanbul followed by a 4-3 victory against fellow Turkish giants Galatasaray last Tuesday.
The Spanish side raced into a three-goal lead within the first 32 minutes against the latter courtesy of strikes from Francis Coquelin, Johan Mojica and Samuel Chukwueze, and they were 4-1 up at the interval with 19-year-old Jorge Pascual also getting his name on the scoresheet, before Gala then scored two consolation goals in the final half-hour.
Setien and co will be looking to build momentum and secure another victory in their penultimate warm-up match against Villa before their final friendly fixture against Serie A leaders Napoli on Saturday. Villarreal resume their 2022-23 campaign with a Copa del Rey second-round clash against fourth-tier side CD Guijuelo on December 20.
Team News
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Aston Villa have been boosted by the return of Leander Dendoncker, Matty Cash and Jan Bednarek following their involvement at the World Cup, while goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is still away on international duty and is set to become the first Villa player to play in a World Cup final after Argentina beat Croatia in the last four on Tuesday.
Emery was unable to call upon Philippe Coutinho, Diego Carlos, Jacob Ramsey, Emiliano Buendia and Jed Steer during their brief trip to Abu Dhabi due to injury and the quintet are unlikely to feature against Villarreal.
The likes of McGinn, Tyrone Mings, Lucas Digne, Arjan Raikhy, Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins, who all started against Chelsea, are expected to be involved again on Thursday.
As for Villarreal, goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli and defender Juan Foyth remain unavailable as they are currently with Villa's Martinez and Argentina at the World Cup, while Spain centre-back Pau Torres could feature after training with the squad earlier this week.
Former Villa goalkeeper Pepe Reina – who spent a six-month spell on loan with the Midlands club in 2020 – is set to continue between the sticks, while former Watford man Kiko Femenia is expected to start at right-back.
Gerard Moreno, Raul Albiol, Dani Parejo and Etienne Capoue will all be pushing to start and build up their match fitness after beginning on the bench against Galatasaray last time out.
Aston Villa possible starting lineup:
Olsen; Young, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Raikhy, Kamara, Luiz, McGinn; Bailey, Watkins
Villarreal possible starting lineup:
Reina; Fermina, Albiol, Cuenca, Mojica; Coquelin, Capoue, Parejo; Chukwueze, Moreno, Baena
We say: Aston Villa 2-2 Villarreal
Considering both Aston Villa and Villarreal are expected to rotate their sides throughout the match, an open contest could be on the cards on Thursday.
Emery will be familiar with his upcoming opponents which could give Villa the edge, but we can see the Yellow Submarine playing out an entertaining draw on this occasion.
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