Key events
Emery, for his part, makes a change: John McGinn is injured, so Leon Bailey comes in from the right of midfield.
Three changes for Ipswich after the draw in Southampton. Most intriguingly, Jack Clarke, from Sunderland, makes his first league start, while Kalvin Phillips and Chiedozie Ogbene also come in; Jean Cayud, Wes Burns and Sammy Szmodics leave.
I'm going to write them, Then we will reflect on what they could mean.
Teams!
Ipswich City (4-2-3-1): Muric; Tuanzebe, O'Shea, Greaves, Davis; Morsi, Phillips; Ogbene, Hutchinson, Clarke; Delap. Substitutes: Walton, Chaplin, Taylor, Johnson, Townsend, Szmodics, Luongo, Hirst.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez; Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Digne; Tielemans, Onana; Ramsey, Rogers, Bailey; Watkins. Substitutes: Gauchi, Barkley, Durán, Buendía, Philogene, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Bogardem Swinkels.
Referee: Stuart Atwell (Nuneaton)
Preamble
It's much easier to impress people when they don't know what to expect, a tribute to the human ability to have negative expectations: I'll automatically assume, they, you, or them are trash, so anything better than that is a win.
However, once they know, everything changes and, by surprising coincidence, that is where Villa Aston They met at the beginning of this season. Before it started, we might have wondered if they would find the form that took them to the Champions League, while demanding it of course. Well, four wins and a loss later (plus a win of one in Europe) suggests they might just do it.
The thing is, Villa were really good before they showed it: Unai Emery inherited a deep, talented and expensive team that only needed his genius to elevate clubs of his precise description. So we have no reason to be surprised at how good they still are: the quality of the team reflects the quality of the coach and the quality of the coach reflects the quality of the team in perfect symbiosis.
Meanwhile, Ipswich are having a tough time. Kieran McKenna has already performed a miracle by taking them from League 1 to the first division in a ridiculous style, but imposing that at the highest level is a different challenge. Although they didn't expect to get anything out of their first two games (Liverpool home, Man City away), they have since drawn three in a row. Which could represent progress, but could also easily evince a missed opportunity given that Fulham at home and Southampton away are the type of games that a promoted team hoping to stay top will feel they must win.
However, they will feel they have a chance this afternoon – a 95th-minute equalizer in the final match means they are in full swing, while Villa have the not insignificant distraction of a midweek fixture with Bayern Munich. This ought I know well, that's where we come in…
Start: 2pm BST
