The latest Aston Villa news as four players are ruled out against Liverpool amid speculation surrounding Philippe Coutinho’s future.
Aston Villa injury news: The latest updates as Unai Emery’s side prepares to take on Liverpool. Philippe Coutinho could seal a transfer exit and is also absent.
Ever since Philippe Coutinho left Liverpool in 2018 for an eye-watering transfer fee, the Reds have been able to secure the signature of Alisson Becker (for £65m) and Van Dijk (for £75m) and have gone on to win everything in their wake.
Aston Villa, on the other hand, is a completely different club to the one it is today. Unai Emersey (and a fair amount of money) has turned the Midlands club into a European contender.
In fact, Villa will be playing in the Europa League this season, and will hope to repeat the success of West Ham in that competition.
They certainly have the manager they need to succeed in Europe.
But first, there’s a trip to Liverpool to sort out. The Reds will be hoping to maintain their winning ways at the start of the new season, but they’ll face a difficult challenge here, particularly without the suspended Van Dijk and the injured Konaté.
Here’s a look at Aston Villa’s injury situation ahead of Saturday’s game, with four players expected to be out of action and unavailable for manager Emery’s starting line-up:
Emi BUENDÍA
Tyrone MING
Villa’s injury problems have been a problem early in the season, with both BuendÍa and Mings out for the season with knee injuries.
Both will be out for ‘a long time’, as Emery said last week, and both have had surgery. Neither, of course, will be available to face Liverpool at Anfield this weekend.
Another big miss is Jacob Ramsay. The attacking midfielder was a fan of Steven Gerrard’s when he was at Villa Park, and scored in last season’s game at Anfield. At the moment, he is out with an ankle injury, which will keep him out for a few more weeks. He won’t be involved here, but he’ll be a big addition to the squad when he gets back.
Philippe Coutinho, the former Liverpool attacking midfielder, is expected to be out of action for at least a few weeks but may not even be a member of Aston Villa’s starting line-up on Saturday due to transfer speculation from two clubs.
The 24-year-old is currently out of action with a hamstring injury, though that is expected to be short-term.
It has been reported that Barcelona and Sevilla are both interested in signing Coutinho, with Sevilla’s manager, Unai Emery, willing to let go of the player Gerrard brought in from the Camp Nou.
Although Coutinho has shown glimpses of brilliance in recent years, he simply doesn’t seem the same player he used to be before moving to the Nou Camp.
