Aston Villa host Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday night, and Unai Emery has provided our latest team news ahead of the encounter.
With just four league games remaining this season, Villa continue to close in on a top-four finish and know that a win this weekend will heap more pressure on Tottenham to respond in the north London derby on Sunday.
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A win would open up a nine-point gap with Spurs having three games in hand, but Emery will no doubt prefer to continue to put those points on the board rather than having to play catch-up.
After looking so impressive against Arsenal and Bournemouth and with our heroics in Lille sealing a Europa Conference League semi-final berth, Villa look to be building momentum at just the right time as we push to finish the campaign strongly, but despite Chelsea’s troubles this season, we’ll have to be at our best again this weekend to extend our impressive form.
While long-term absentees Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendia, Boubacar Kamara and Jacob Ramsey remain sidelined, it was hoped that Emery would deliver positive news on the injury and fitness front on Friday in his pre-match press conference, and here’s what the Villa boss had to say.
As per the club’s official X account, Emery confirmed that the quartet named above are still out, while neither Alex Moreno nor Nicolo Zaniolo have recovered from their respective injury blows to feature this weekend.
“Buendia, Mings, Kamara and Ramsey are out,” Emery told the media. “Alex Moreno and Nicolo Zaniolo aren’t available tomorrow. The other players, I think they are going to be available.”
It’s hoped that the pair are closing in on a return as we’ll need their quality and the competition and depth for our upcoming schedule, with Lucas Digne undoubtedly having a heavy workload ahead at left-back, while the likes of Morgan Rogers will feature prominently given the key absences in that area of the squad.
Emery still has a strong group to select from though, and it’s hoped that he can formulate the perfect game-plan to see off Chelsea and secure all three points on Saturday night.
