Aston Villa face West Ham Utd in the Premier League on Sunday, and Unai Emery has provided our latest team news ahead of the encounter.
Following the conclusion of the international break, Villa resume domestic action as we look to build on our positive recent form in the league and continue to climb the standings.
READ MORE: Villa provide Zaniolo update ahead of West Ham clash
While Emery will have one eye on our meeting with AZ Alkmaar in midweek in the Europa Conference League, there’s little doubt that he’ll go with our strongest available XI on Sunday evening, but neither Alex Moreno nor Jacob Ramsey will feature as they remain sidelined by injury.
“Still injured are Álex Moreno and Jacob Ramsey,” Emery told the media, as per VillaTV. “Other players progressively are coming to train with us after their matches with national teams.
“Hopefully, if everything goes well, tomorrow we’re going to be ready with everybody.”
Moreno has yet to feature this season having suffered a setback in his recovery earlier this month, and so it’s disappointing that he is still not quite ready to return despite having the international break to potentially step up his comeback.
As for Ramsey, there were promising signs after he scored his first goal of the campaign in our win over Brighton on September 30, but having suffered a recurrence of his foot injury that kept him out over the summer and the start of the season, it’s another big blow for us as it remains to be seen when he’ll be available again.
In contrast, in a statement released earlier on Friday, Villa confirmed that Nicolo Zaniolo has been training with the first-team squad this week and is available for selection this weekend, as he continues to assist the relevant authorities with their investigation into alleged betting activity.
Given he is available though, that’s a vital boost for Emery as the Italian international has been an important option for him so far this season, particularly with Ramsey still ruled out.
It’s hoped that the rest of the squad is at Emery’s disposal come Sunday, as we’ll certainly need to be at our best and have the options on the bench to change the game if necessary.