Cup ties haven’t been much to look forward to for Villa the last several years. This season might not be so different except for the fact that Villa have a deep squad and a number of players looking to either reclaim their places or earn further consideration as future starters.
Villa are back in action in the Carabao Cup, hosting Wigan—and we’ll see which of the two schools of thought on cup ties wins out. Keep things going and use the match to reinforce combinations and winning ways, or, basically chuck it, and throw in the players not getting regular playing time. You’re balancing recovery, squad development, and the possibility of injury vs. trying to get better as a starting XI. To be honest, I’m sure Villa need a bit of both.
