Aston Villa will look to close the gap on the Championship automatic promotion places when they host Queens Park Rangers at Villa Park on Saturday.
The Villans moved into the top two after beating arch-rivals Birmingham City 2-0 last month, but after taking just four points from the last nine available in the league they are currently four points adrift of second-place Cardiff City with 12 matches of the campaign left.
Three of those four points came last time out in an entertaining 4-2 win against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough, where they twice trailed before eventually sealing a victory with second-half goals from Glenn Whelan, Conor Hourihane and Robert Snodgrass.
Steve Bruce’s men will know that they need to keep picking up wins in order to secure the top-two finish they are desperate for, and they will certainly take some solace in the fact that QPR have the fourth-worst record in the Championship having only taken 11 points from their 17 league fixtures on the road.
Bruce brought Mohamed Elmohamady, Glenn Whelan and Lewis Grabbban into the XI at Hillsborough, and the 57-year-old will be considering making changes against Rangers too given that his team weren’t at their best against Wednesday and the fact that he had to change formation during the 90 minutes.
Here is how Aston Villa must line up against QPR on Saturday, ahead of Sam Johnstone in goal…
Defence
Bruce started with a back four of Ahmed Elmohamady, John Terry, James Chester and Alan Hutton against Sheffield Wednesday, and it probably would have been the same quartet against QPR this weekend had Hutton not picked up an injury that forced him off at Hillsborough, and has subsequently ruled him out on Saturday.
Luckily for Bruce, he has the perfect replacement at left-back in the form of Neil Taylor, and the 57-year-old boss will know that he can rely on the Wales international to put in a reliable performance at Villa Park.
Midfield
Bruce threw something of a curveball at Hillsborough by bringing in Glenn Whelan for Mile Jedinak in the middle of the park, with the Australia international starting the match on the substitutes’ bench as the visitors went with a 4-4-2 system.
The formation didn’t really work though and Bruce should opt for more of a 4-1-4-1 for the visit of QPR, with Jedinak returning to the XI in place of Whelan to sit in front of the back four.
Villa need that attacking threat in front of the Australian against a Rangers team that struggle on the road, with the in-form Conor Hourihane undroppable and Josh Onomah the other player who should start.
Robert Snodgrass must start on the right and the returning Albert Adomah must come in on the left having returned to training this week, with the 30-year-old scoring 13 goals in 27 Championship matches this term.
Attack
Bruce decided to start Scott Hogan and Lewis Grabban up top against Sheffield Wednesday, but with the former going four league matches – all of which he has started – without a goal, it is time to start the latter up front on his own against QPR.
The 30-year-old scored 12 goals in 19 Championship games for Sunderland before joining Villa during the January transfer window, and with two goals in his last two appearances for the Midlands outfit he should be an automatic starter against a Rangers side that struggle on the road.
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