Villa seem to be consistently inconsistent at the moment, with their last nine league matches yielding 3 each for wins, draws, & defeats. They've scored & conceded just 7. Our quality should show through, but they've got talent enough in their side to build up a head of steam & cause us problems if we're off the pace. It's certainly not the case that they can't stop scoring of anything, but Mings & Konsa also represent a bit of a threat from set pieces - Phillips is no doubt a big factor in easing those concerns though.
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Trézéguet came on and looked really lively for them last weekend, scoring the two goals that turned their game against Fulham around. I think he's tended to play on the right in the past, but I think Traore's had that role since joining - I expect Trezeguet will start on the left.
I don't particularly agree with the narrative that Trent Alexander-Arnold's defending is some sort of glaring weakness in our side, but I do recognise that the combination of his attacking-intent and Phillips' relative lack of mobility makes our right-hand side vulnerable when there isn't adequate protection from the midfield. From the little I've seen of them recently, Matt Targett has also appeared to get forward a lot to support the play from left-back.
I'd probably favour Milner coming in for this one, on the right of the three. Don't mind who plays on the left, but I suspect Thiago would get the nod over Gini.
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The other option that crossed my mind is starting tomorrow how we ended on Tuesday - more like a 4-2-3-1, with Shaq on the right, Salah at the sharp end, Firmino in behind, and one of Mane/Jota kept as an impact options. Not sure what you do with the midfield 'pair' in that case - probably Fab & Thiago unless we use Fab in central defence, but I suspect that would be unpopular.
