What could Aston Villa's XI look like against Sheffield Wednesday?

Aston Villa will start life in the Sky Bet Championship with a trip to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday, live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 4.15pm.

Roberto Di Matteo has taken the reins at Villa Park after their relegation last season, so how are they shaping up for the new campaign? And how could they line up against the Owls?

The new boss has experimented with a number of different formations and line-ups during pre-season. We examine his options and look at what Villa's starting line-up might look like on Sunday...

Goalkeeper

Italy U21 international Pierluigi Gollini will be first-choice goalkeeper this season. Villa paid in the region of £4.25m to sign Gollini from Hellas Verona, who he joined from Manchester United in 2014. The 21-year-old replaces Brad Guzan, who has joined Premier League new boys Middlesbrough.

Defence

With Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott out of favour and likely to leave Villa Park, Di Matteo looks set to introduce a new centre-back duo. He has paired new signing Tommy Elphick and Nathan Baker together during pre-season. Ciaran Clark has departed for Newcastle, but Di Matteo could also call on Jores Okore.

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Villa chairman Tony Xia has insisted that Jordan Amavi will not leave the club this summer, and the Frenchman is likely to regain the left-back spot after recovering from injury. Villa could also call on Aly Cissokho and Joe Bennett, while Alan Hutton could start at right-back over Leandro Bacuna.

Midfield

Idrissa Gueye has joined Everton and there is uncertainty over the future of Jordan Veretout, but Villa can still call on Ashley Westwood and Carlos Sanchez in central midfield, and they have also brought in Aaron Tshibola from Reading for a fee of around £5m, while Gary Gardner has returned from a loan spell at Nottingham Forest.

Villa have plenty of options on the flanks. They will hope to keep hold of Jordan Ayew, while Jack Grealish could be used in a wide role and Adama Traore will be eager to make an impact after an underwhelming debut season in English football. Scott Sinclair has been linked with a move to Celtic but Bacuna can also play in midfield.

Attack

New signing Ross McCormack is expected to go straight into the team following his £12m arrival from Fulham. The striker has proven Championship pedigree, with 66 goals over the last three seasons with Leeds and the Cottagers.

Di Matteo could pair McCormack with Rudy Gestede, another frontman who has impressed in the second tier, while he could also use Grealish as his No 10. Libor Kozak will provide additional support, but former captian Gabriel Agbonlahor looks unlikely to feature.