Aston Villa face Tottenham in the FA Cup this weekend, and Unai Emery has provided our latest team news ahead of the encounter.
Villa were held to a goalless draw at Crystal Palace in midweek as we remain in third place in the Premier League table, while we’ll resume our Europa League campaign this month looking to secure a direct passage to the knockout phase.
Next up though is the third round of the FA Cup, and it’s a difficult test away from home against Spurs as we look to advance and keep our hopes of domestic silverware alive this season.
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Emiliano Martinez was forced off at half-time at Palace with a calf issue, and while the expectation was that neither Amadou Onana nor Ross Barkley would return in time this weekend, our first-choice goalkeeper has been ruled out too, as confirmed by Emery in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
That in turn will mean Marco Bizot steps in to deputise for the Argentine shot-stopper again, and Emery was full of praise for the Dutchman as he hailed his professionalism and patience in being able to step up and fill in when needed.
Emery added that Tyrone Mings will be assessed, and so he could join Pau Torres in being back available after the Spaniard returned to the matchday squad in midweek.
Meanwhile, there could be a debut for Alysson after his arrival from Gremio at the start of the month, and although the Brazilian hasn’t had too much time to settle and adapt, Emery sounded eager to integrate the talented winger as quickly as possible to help him with that process.