Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has provided an injury update on Emiliano Martinez and Pau Torres after the key duo missed our win over West Ham United this weekend.
Martinez was ruled out due to an ongoing back issue, while it’s unclear what injury Pau has sustained, but he had to be replaced in the latter stages of our win over Arsenal last weekend and hasn’t featured since.
Both were missing on Sunday, but Villa were able to find a way to win without them at West Ham, with Marco Bizot and Victor Lindelof stepping in to deputise.
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While that pair deserve credit for their contribution and performances in the 3-2 win, Emery will want to have as close to a fully-fit squad at his disposal as possible over the Christmas and New Year schedule, but it remains to be seen how many more games Martinez and Pau miss between them.
As per The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell, Emery provided an update in his post-match press conference, suggesting that while Martinez could return this week and be ready to face Manchester United next Sunday, Pau might need around two weeks still, and so time will tell if he is available for selection for that game, or against Chelsea, six days later.
Lindelof impressed this weekend from a defensive perspective but also with his assist for the second goal from Morgan Rogers, but there is no doubt that Pau’s influence is hugely important for us, and hopefully he’ll be back at Emery’s disposal sooner rather than later.
Rather uncharacteristically, Ezri Konsa had a disappointing afternoon this weekend without Pau alongside him, and so while it’s questionable as to whether that had any impact on him at all, restoring that centre-half partnership will be a welcome boost for us.
