Sitting just above their hosts in the Premier League table, Aston Villa will visit Newcastle United on Boxing Day, aiming to avoid a fifth straight away defeat in England's top flight.

Ready for a hectic festive schedule, Villa's squad is almost fully available, as only Jacob Ramsey will miss the trip north due to a hamstring injury - and even he has recently rejoined training.

Once again, Unai Emery's biggest quandary regards whether to reinstate Ollie Watkins up front or continue to keep faith with in-form striker Jhon Duran.

Previously renowned as a 'super-sub', Duran has scored as a starter in several recent games and boasts the league's best minutes-per-goal ratio this season (one every 80 minutes); meanwhile, Watkins has been slightly below his best.

Away to tough opponents, Emery will not experiment by pairing them together, instead preferring more players in the engine room, where Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara and Youri Tielemans combined to such good effect in last week's win over Manchester City.

That trio may be retained at St James' Park, with Morgan Rogers and captain John McGinn taking more advanced roles in support of the Villans' lone striker.

It might be 'same again' at the back, too, as Matty Cash and Lucas Digne operate on either flank, and Pau Torres joins Ezri Konsa in the centre. Ian Maatsen, Diego Carlos and Tyrone Mings are all viable options, should Emery decide to rest some weary legs.

Aston Villa possible starting lineup: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Kamara, Onana; McGinn, Tielemans, Rogers; Duran

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