Aston Villa Face Ultimate Early Test as PSG Stand Between Unai Emery and Another European Trophy

Aston Villa will have the opportunity to add another piece of European silverware to the cabinet on Wednesday night when they face Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup in Salzburg, although the timing of the game makes trying to predict exactly what we are going to see from Unai Emery's side particularly difficult.

Ordinarily, Villa against PSG with a trophy on the line would require very little additional build-up. These are the reigning Europa League and Champions League winners, meeting again after Villa pushed PSG so close in their memorable Champions League quarter-final two seasons ago, while Emery coming up against his former club adds another obvious layer to it.

The problem is that it does not really feel as though Villa are ready for a game of this magnitude yet.

Their Premier League season does not begin for another 13 days and, although there have been plenty of pre-season minutes spread throughout the squad, there are still important players at completely different stages of their preparation. Emi Martinez, Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa returned late following the World Cup, Boubacar Kamara has only recently returned from injury, John McGinn is a doubt after picking up an issue last week and Alejandro Garnacho and Ross Barkley both missed Friday's friendly against Bayern Munich.

That is before you even get to the wider changes Villa have undergone this summer.

There have been significant departures from the squad and coaching staff and this is a team which is still trying to find its new shape. It is why I have struggled to shake the feeling throughout pre-season that Villa are undercooked, and PSG are probably the last team in Europe you would choose to face when you are not quite at your optimum level.

The expectation is that plenty of their major players will travel to Salzburg and Luis Enrique has significantly more depth to play with when deciding how heavily he wants to lean on those who have only recently returned.

There may at least be an opportunity for Villa if Enrique decides this is still primarily part of PSG's preparation for the domestic season. Jonathan expects the French side could name a mixed team containing established stars alongside some of their younger players, particularly with PSG unlikely to take unnecessary risks with players who are not completely ready.

Villa's own starting XI is considerably harder to predict.

You would imagine Martinez will play if he is ready, although Marco Bizot is a more than capable alternative and knows PSG well from his years in France. At the back, Matty Cash and Ian Maatsen look the obvious full-back choices, while Victor Lindelof and Pau Torres have had considerably more time together during pre-season than Konsa, which could make throwing the England international straight back in an unnecessary risk.

Watkins is another interesting one. He has not had much time with the group since returning from the World Cup, but the alternatives are limited. Brian Madjo has not been included in Villa's Super Cup squad and Tammy Abraham has only played around half an hour during pre-season, meaning Watkins may bizarrely be in a better position to start despite arriving back later.

The biggest decision may come in midfield.

Kamara is one of Villa's most important players and getting him properly fit for the start of the Premier League season is considerably more important than anything that happens on Wednesday night. He looked a little rusty against Bayern, which is completely understandable after another injury lay-off, and Villa simply cannot afford to lose him again by asking too much too soon.

Equally, if he is fit enough to play, Emery will want minutes into his legs.

There is therefore an argument for starting Kamara and trying to get 45 or 60 minutes out of him, rather than protecting him completely. He has generally been remarkably good at finding his level quickly after previous injuries, and with Villa facing a difficult start to the league campaign, getting him closer to full speed now would be hugely beneficial.

If Villa decide against that, João Gomes and Lamare Bogarde would appear the most obvious midfield pairing, particularly with McGinn's availability uncertain.

Further forward, Garnacho should provide Villa with the width and direct running from the left that Emery has clearly wanted to add this summer, while Emi Buendia feels increasingly important to what Villa are going to do during these opening weeks of the season.

Buendia finished last season brilliantly and there has been something noticeably different about his position within the group this summer. For the first time in a number of years, there is no real uncertainty surrounding his future and, following some major departures, he appears to have embraced greater responsibility within the squad.

Villa are going to need him.

He has gone from somebody the club were prepared to move on last summer to a player staking a genuine claim to be part of Emery's first-choice attacking four, and his confidence and creativity could be particularly important while the new-look side settles. There is also a question over whether he assumes more set-piece responsibility following Youri Tielemans' departure.

The circumstances surrounding Wednesday's game remain strange to me. The Super Cup is supposed to be a showpiece between Europe's two major trophy winners, yet it is being played at a point when neither team can realistically be expected to be at its peak.

For Villa in particular, it comes nearly two weeks before their Premier League opener.

That should not diminish what is at stake, though. Villa have won this trophy before, beating Barcelona in 1983 after becoming European champions, and opportunities to win European silverware do not come around often enough to treat them casually.

Emery certainly will not.

There will inevitably be one eye on Brighton and the beginning of another Champions League campaign, but this is still a final and Villa now have an opportunity to build upon what happened in Istanbul last season. Winning the Europa League changed something for this group because they finally turned all the progress of the Emery era into a trophy, and adding another one immediately would reinforce that winning mentality.

The performance may ultimately tell Emery more than the result. This is an opportunity to discover exactly how close Villa are to being ready for the season against arguably the most demanding opponent they could face, while still having the considerable incentive of another trophy waiting at the end of it.

That feels about right.

Villa will have to be better than they have been throughout most of pre-season to win this game. Against PSG, even when fully fit and firing, you need almost everything to go your way. Facing them when several important players are still building fitness and a reshaped squad is finding its rhythm makes the task considerably harder.

But it is a final. It is Aston Villa against the champions of Europe, with another European trophy on the line, and if Emery can somehow get this side over the line in Salzburg, nobody will be talking about how awkwardly the game was scheduled when the trophy is being lifted.