Aston Villa host Middlesbrough in the Carabao cup later tonight and the home side will be looking to get their season back on track with a win.

The Villans have had a very poor start to their season but their win over Barnsley will have given them some confidence heading into this game. Steve Bruce’s men managed to win 3-0 this Saturday.

Aston Villa will want to continue their progress in the competition. In order to do that, they must keep up their impressive defensive form tonight as well.

The home side have not conceded a single goal in their last three matches and they will be looking to shut down the Boro attack here.

Meanwhile, Garry Monk’s side are doing quite well and the away side will fancy their chances as well. Villa’s squad depth could be a major positive for them. Other than that, this should be a fairly evenly matched contest.

Villa are likely to start with Alan Hutton as their right back. Star defender John Terry could be rested after an impressive showing in the last game. Bruce cannot afford to burn him out by playing him twice in the space of a few days.

Josh Onomah, Jed Steer, Scott Hogan and Chris Samba are also expected to return to the starting lineup for the home side.

Predicted Aston Villa Starting Lineup vs Middlesbrough (4-4-2): Steer; Hutton, Samba, Chester, Taylor; Adomah, Lansbury, Onomah, Bjarnason; Kodjia, Hogan