Aston Villa predicted XI v Newcastle United as Steven Gerrard hints at changes

It's a day of recovery for Aston Villa at Bodymoor Heath for those that ran hard in last night's 3-3 draw with Leeds United.

Steven Gerrard's men gave Leeds a leg up early on and, despite racing away to take a 3-1 lead thanks to Philippe Coutinho and Jacob Ramsey, were pegged back twice with the head coach now desperate to iron out his side's defensive frailties.

Up next it's in-form Newcastle with Villa set to fly up on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking after the draw with Leeds, Gerrard hinted how he might need to freshen his starting XI up knowing what the players gave at Villa Park on Wednesday.

"We gave a lot to the game so I'm going to have to do a lot of thinking in terms of what team I go for at the weekend because our numbers today are through the roof," he said, with Villa running the most in 90 minutes against Leeds since Gerrard took over back in November.

There will, however, be an enforced change with Ezri Konsa now suspended for Villa's next two matches with Newcastle (February 13) and Watford (February 19) after picking up his second red card of the season.

New signing Calum Chambers is favourite to slot in on the right side of Villa's centre-back pairing with Tyrone Mings, despite his trio of errors, expected to keep his place.

Manager Gerrard will no doubt test and challenge Mings to bounce back with a more assured showing up at St James' on Sunday, with Kortney Hause tasked with waiting patiently for a way in once again.

Emi Martinez will continue in goal despite perhaps knowing he could have been more commanding against Leeds while, at full-back, Matty Cash and Lucas Digne should get the nod once again.

Supporters could, however, see a change in midfield with John McGinn and Douglas Luiz both