Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that Philippe Coutinho suffered an injury setback which resulted in his absence against Tottenham on Saturday.
Villa secured a crucial 2-1 win over Spurs to keep our European hopes alive, and although we’ve received several fitness boosts over the past week, Coutinho was absent again after making the bench at Wolves last weekend.
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The 30-year-old Brazilian playmaker’s last Premier League appearance came against Arsenal on February 18, and it’s possible that might prove to be his last outing of the campaign.
Speaking after the game, Emery confirmed the reason behind his absence and was unable to provide a timeline on his recovery.
“Yesterday he had again a small injury but I don’t know exactly now how long he’s going to be,” Emery said when asked about the Brazilian in his post-match press conference, as per BirminghamLive.
With just two Premier League games remaining, Coutinho now faces a real race to be fit enough to simply be in contention to feature, and although he has only contributed one goal and no assists in 22 appearances so far this season, Emery would surely still prefer to have that option at his disposal to try and influence a game if needed.
However, it’s another disappointing update instead as although Matty Cash was the latest key player to make his comeback from injury this weekend and with the likes of Diego Carlos, Boubacar Kamara and Leon Bailey all returning, it looks as though Villa could be without Coutinho in the next fortnight.
Time will tell what will be decided beyond this season in terms of whether or not he has a part to play in Emery’s plans moving forward, as ultimately the Spaniard will want to bring in his own reinforcements this summer and that could push Coutinho further down the pecking order and out of favour.
In turn, it’s perhaps in the best interests of all concerned for him to move on in that situation as his reliability has become a real issue, but it remains to be seen if that is ultimately the outcome in what promises to be a busy summer for Villa with incomings and outgoings expected.
