Aston Villa have confirmed that both Philippe Coutinho and Leander Dendoncker have been ruled out of our clash with Crystal Palace this weekend.
After getting back to winning ways last weekend at Everton, Unai Emery will be hoping to find solutions to start winning at home too given our recent form at Villa Park.
READ MORE: How Villa could line up vs Palace: Two potential key changes from Emery
Back-to-back 4-2 defeats to Leicester City and Arsenal respectively have made it clear that improvement and fixes are necessary, and this will be a big test as to whether we’re on the right path to addressing those concerns.
Villa won’t be at full strength for this one though, as per the club’s tweet below, as both Coutinho and Dendoncker have been ruled out. Coutinho was absent last weekend due to a hamstring injury, and that will sideline him again for this encounter, while his Belgian teammate didn’t train on Friday and so will be unavailable due to personal reasons.
Further, Villa also provided an update on Diego Carlos who won’t be available on Saturday either, but it’s good news on the Brazilian defender as it’s confirmed that he is stepping up his workload in group training and he will undoubtedly be eased back into it in the coming weeks.
The expectation is that he will likely get a run out with the U21s at some point to build his match fitness and go through the final stages of his rehabilitation, and the Villa medical and coaching staff will no doubt keep a close eye on him to ensure we don’t push him too hard and risk a late setback.
It’s important that he’s moved at the right pace, and we’ll hopefully see him back in the coming weeks or perhaps early next month now following the international break.
While it’s a blow not having Coutinho or Dendoncker on the bench as they do offer important depth and alternative options if needed, it will hopefully open up an opportunity or two for others to step in and make an impact if Emery calls upon them as Villa look to continue to push to break into the top half of the Premier League table.
Updates on Diego Carlos, Philippe Coutinho and Leander Dendoncker ahead of the weekend. 🟣 #AVLCRY pic.twitter.com/TenQs4SL6z
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) March 3, 2023
