Aston Villa host Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, and Unai Emery has provided our latest team news ahead of the encounter.
After a slump in form, Villa finally got back to winning ways in midweek with a 3-1 victory over Brentford, and the hope is that it will act as both a confidence boost and catalyst to get ourselves back on track to put together a positive run.
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Although the Saints arrive in a difficult position given their poor start to the campaign as they sit bottom of the table, there can’t be any room for complacency as we look to build momentum and improve on our performance on Wednesday night.
It had been hoped that there would be more good news on the injury front for this clash as we move closer to getting a full-strength squad back at Emery’s disposal as we go deeper into the festive period, and the Villa boss provided the latest on his squad in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“It is being very difficult because we play matches every three days, even we played Juventus and then Leipzig next week. It is the most difficult challenge we can have,” he told the media. “Today I don’t know exactly which players are available tomorrow [on Saturday]. Some are doubts, yesterday some had pain and some are tired. We are going to train now this afternoon. I think until tomorrow morning, only then it will be clear who will start the match.
“Jacob Ramsey is still weeks to come back, he is progressing well. Onana is close to coming back, maybe today he can do something with us. For tomorrow, I don’t know when he will be with us. Maybe Tuesday is easier.”
Onana returning to the fold in the next week will be a vital boost to give us depth and competition, with Boubacar Kamara having to take on a heavier workload in his absence in a bid to sustain a balance in our midfield with his defensive qualities.
While it’s a shame that Ramsey is still out for some time, it’s hoped that there are no long-term absentees expected with the pain that Emery hinted at, but his comments do suggest that we are likely to see rotation and several changes to his starting line-up this weekend.
It’s another quick turnaround as we travel to Germany to face RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday night before heading to Nottingham Forest next weekend, and so it’s imperative that we keep everyone as fresh as possible to continue to set a high standard and obtain positive results to climb the table.
As he has always emphasised, the Villa boss has two top options in every position and wants us to develop and execute a game plan and way of playing that isn’t negatively impacted by personnel changes, and so that will likely be tested on Saturday.
