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Aston Villa go into the play-offs this weekend with every chance of achieving promotion back to the Premier League.
Despite a defeat to Norwich on the final day of normal Championship action, confidence is still likely to be high heading into their semi-final clash against West Brom.
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The Villans recently enjoyed a terrific ten-game winning streak so the belief will be incredibly strong as they prepare for a two-legged clash with one of their Midlands rivals.
There was confirmation this week that, other than Orjan Nyland, Dean Smith’s side have a clean bill of health. With this in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting the team he might put out at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime.
This side sees six changes made from the line-up that started against Norwich last time out. In that encounter, a number of key men were rested with the likes of John McGinn, Tyrone Mings and Jack Grealish all absent.
McGinn had sat out against the Canaries over fears of a three-game suspension after the Scot had picked up 14 yellow cards. However, he’s likely to return and resume his partnership alongside Conor Hourihane and Grealish.
The major news for Villa this weekend is the reemergence of Tammy Abraham, who has been missing since 19 April when he came off on the hour mark against Bolton. The 25-goal striker will be a welcome return for what is undoubtedly the biggest game of the season.
A major decision will have to be made by the manager on the flanks.
Anwar El Ghazi will probably come back after missing out against Norwich whilst our predicted side has Andre Green starting over Albert Adomah. The 20-year-old caused numerous threats against Leeds last month and could prove vital again on Saturday.
