Aston Villa face Burnley on Sunday, and Unai Emery will be hoping for a major fitness boost from Emiliano Martinez ahead of kick-off.
Villa secured a 5-0 win over Hibernian in the first leg of our Europa Conference League play-off round tie in midweek, but the Argentine international came off at half-time with a knock.
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While it had been hoped that it was just precautionary with a view of Martinez starting on Sunday, Emery confirmed in his pre-match press conference that the 30-year-old has a small calf problem and would face a late fitness test on Saturday to determine whether or not he will be involved.
“Today he (Emi) didn’t train and we’re going to wait for tomorrow,” he told the media, as per VillaTV. “He has small pain in his calf, it’s not big, but we have to take our time.
“Tomorrow is our last training for Sunday’s match and it is the day to take a decision if he is going to be ready or not.”
Emery did emphasise that it was a small issue in his response, and so although Martinez didn’t train on Friday, there is a feeling that he will be good to go for the game at Turf Moor. That said, if there is any part of the Villa medical staff that doesn’t think it’s worth the risk, it’s hoped we see him sit this one out to avoid making the injury any worse.
In turn, we’ll wait to see if Robin Olsen comes in to replace him between the posts, but there could be one other change to the side that started on Wednesday, with Matty Cash potentially coming back into our defence.
While Diego Carlos impressed at Hibernian and it’s a significant landmark for him to complete a full 90 minutes after his injury last season, two games in a week could be viewed as a bit much at this stage. It might be the sensible decision to drop him to the bench for this outing, and the Brazilian centre-half will likely start the second leg on Thursday as he steps up his workload.
That would see Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne form the backline, with a settled and familiar midfield quartet of Leon Bailey, Boubacar Kamara, Douglas Luiz and John McGinn ahead of them.
Following that trend, it’s unlikely we’ll see the partnership of Moussa Diaby and Ollie Watkins broken up in the final third, and so it may well be the same Villa XI that secured a 4-0 win over Everton last weekend, but with that question mark hanging over Martinez in particular.
One key difference though is the inclusion of Nicolò Zaniolo on the bench, with the 24-year-old Italian international expected to be available and ready to make his debut for us.
“He is ready to play on Sunday,” Emery said of our summer loan signing. “His first match, he didn’t have the right permission, he couldn’t play in Europe now and the two matches against Hibernian.”
Ideally, Villa will be in a commanding position in the latter stages and can bring Zaniolo on for valuable minutes, as that in turn will allow him to gain his first experience of Premier League football under less pressure and the freedom to express himself and showcase what he can add to the side.
It promises to be a difficult assignment against Vincent Kompany’s men though as they look to bounce back from their defeat at home in their only league game thus far, and so much like on Wednesday night, it’s pivotal that we match their intensity and energy, but also show quality in possession to take control of the encounter as quickly as possible.
