Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has suggested that Clement Lenglet will make his first Premier League appearance this season against Sheffield Utd.
Speaking to the media in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, the Spanish tactician confirmed that Pau Torres will be absent for the encounter due to a minor ankle injury, which he hopes he’ll recover from to face Manchester United on Boxing Days.
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That setback though raised an important question mark as to who would fill that void, with a couple of options available to the Villa boss given the depth at his disposal.
Perhaps the ‘safer’ option would be to shift Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa across to play in the centre-half roles, with Matty Cash coming in at right-back. All three have played significant minutes this season, and so they should be fully fit and sharp.
However, it appears as though Emery is going down a different route, as he has suggested it will be Lenglet who starts on Friday night at Villa Park, in a like-for-like swap positionally for Torres.
“Other players maybe wouldn’t have been with the squad if they were feeling like he was. Tomorrow, if everything is going well, I think he is going to play,” he told the media, as per the Express and Star.
“I am wishing to see him and am really very excited about how he will help us and in the next matches. I want to keep him because we need players for the challenges we are going to face this season. I am very happy with him. His commitment in every training session is amazing.”
Lenglet has yet to feature in the Premier League this season, but he has impressed in our Europa Conference League campaign thus far in his five outings.
However, after missing our draw at Zrinjski last week due to illness, there is concern over whether or not he’ll be ready to step in this week and carry out the job required to a high enough level, but with his experience and talent, it’s hoped that he can help us minimise the blow of losing Torres.
What his inclusion would do though is maintain our balance at the back with that left-footed option in the middle, and with his composure and ability to play out, Villa will hopefully be able to stick to our usual structure and style, and ultimately secure all three points.