Confirmed Aston Villa side to take on Sheffield United

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Dean Smith has made six changes to the Aston Villa side that suffered a 4-0 defeat to Leicester City last time out at the King Power Stadium – bringing fan favourite John McGinn back into the side to face Sheffield United.

Villa have 10 games to save themselves from instant relegation to the Championship – with tonight’s fixture against the Blades their game in hand over relegation rivals Bournemouth, Watford, West Ham and Norwich City.

Though their last Premier League result came more than three months ago, Smith’s men come into tonight’s clash in dismal form – having suffered four straight league defeats against Bournemouth, Spurs, Southampton and Leicester.

Tom Heaton and Wesley remain out of action for the rest of the campaign due to long-term knee injuries, but the Midlands side have been boosted in their fight against the drop by the return of McGinn.

The Scotland international was in stunning form for Villa before the break and has since been named Scotland’s Player of the Year. He comes back into the middle of the park alongside Douglas Luiz and Conor Hourihane.

He replaces Marvelous Nakamba, while Anwar El Ghazi comes in to replace Ahmed El Mohamady. In defence, Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause replace Frederic Guilbert and Bjorn Engels.

Keinan Davis starts up front ahead of Mbwana Samatta, while Orjan Nyland starts in goal ahead of Pepe Reina.

Orjan Nyland; Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings, Kortney Hause, Matty Targett; Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Conor Hourihane; Jack Grealish, Keinan Davis, Anwar El Ghazi.

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