Jhon Duran needs to start in every game for Aston Villa. Ollie Watkins is Ollie Watkins, he’s the main man attack in attack. However, Unai Emery needs to find a way to get both on the pitch at the same time. Although we won’t likely see that in the first team formation versus Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Duran, the club’s leading scorer this season, has netted in both of the games that he has started this season: Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Cup’s third round and Bologna in the UEFA Champions League.
Crystal Palace at Aston Villa FYIs
Competition: EFL Cup Round of 16
Kick: Wed. Oct 30, 7:45pm, Villa Park, Birmingham, UK
How They Got Here: Aston Villa- Beat Wycombe Wanderers 2-1 (third round)
Crystal Palace- beat QPR 2-1 (third round), Beat Norwich City 4-0 (second round)
He also has five scoring strikes off the bench, adding to a tally that makes him an incredibly efficient scorer. The 20-year-old Colombian’s goals scored per minutes played ratio is astounding.
He didn’t arrive from the Chicago Fire all too long ago (January 2023), but you can see now why his agent was pushing so hard for an exit this summer. He kind of deserves to be the first choice number 9, somewhere in the Premier League, right now.
Team News for Both Sides
Nothing to report here for Aston Villa, as they have no real injury concerns, and certainly no new ones. However, the Eagles have four players out injured: Matheus Franca (adductor strain), Cheick Doucoure (toe injury) Chadi Riad (knee problem) and the USMNT center back/defensive midfielder Chris Richards (thigh issue).
Aston Villa Starting XI Prediction vs Leicester City
Robin Olsen; Matty Cash, Diego Carlos, Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen; Ross Barkley, Amadou Onana; Jaden Philogene, Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia; Jhon Duran
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.