Morgan Sanson to make shock start - Aston Villa predicted XI vs West Ham

It's two days of recovery for in-form Aston Villa before they take on West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday (2pm kick-off).

Steven Gerrard and his players will be bouncing into that one off the back of three straight victories after seeing off Brighton, Southampton and Leeds United all to nil.

Villa do, though, go into a cluster of fixtures against sides above them in the Premier League with West Ham, Arsenal, Wolves, Tottenham and Liverpool next up.

Looking ahead to Villa's trip to Stratford on Sunday, looks at the options facing Gerrard should he wish to freshen things up given what will be a 64-hour turnaround from full-time at Elland Road to kick-off at West Ham.

On Thursday, Gerrard's decision to retain Calum Chambers ahead of the fit-again Ezri Konsa was totally vindicated. The ex-Arsenal man put in another strong showing alongside Tyrone Mings and, as we know, popped up with a spectacular goal to put a nice shiny gloss on the 3-0 scoreline.

On Sunday, it looks set to be Emi Martinez, the in-form Matty Cash, Chambers, Mings and Lucas Digne once again, with the latter coming back into the line-up at Leeds knowing Gerrard wanted a natural left-sider in at left-back as Ashley Young was taken out of the XI.

A change, though, could be forthcoming in the middle of the park. Jacob Ramsey looks like he could benefit from a little rest and, with that, Morgan Sanson could be handed a rare start in London as he looks to impress. Ramsey, 20, has started every single game for Gerrard since he took charge but, of late, has lacked that little bit of cutting edge while his shift and braveness to get on the ball has never waned. John McGinn, excellent at Leeds, will keep his place, as will Douglas Luiz at West Ham.

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