Aston Villa predicted line-up vs. Crystal Palace: Three changes with Onana & Konsa major doubts
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Aston Villa return to Premier League action this Saturday with a home game against Crystal Palace – but Unai Emery may have to do without as many as eight first-team players as he looks to bring a five match winless run to an end and earn a measure of revenge for a 2-1 defeat to the same opposition in the EFL Cup.
Pau Torres and Jacob Ramsey are among the players dealing with fitness issues, with Ezri Konsa and Amadou Onana picking up injuries while on international duty with England and Belgium respectively.
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Goalkeeper & Defence
No fewer than four defenders are at risk of missing out this weekend, although none are believed to have problems which are likely to linger in the long term. Matty Cash (calf) is recovering from the issue which caused him to miss the defeats to Liverpool and Club Brugge, while the other three are coping with issues picked up or detected during the international break.
Torres was sent home from Spain’s squad after experiencing “muscular discomfort”, Ian Maatsen left the Netherlands Under-21 team without playing due to an unspecified knock, while Konsa (hip) returned to Birmingham following a scan on the injury that forced him off at half-time of the match against Greece. Cash, Torres and Maatsen were all pictured in training earlier this week, while Konsa was absent and appears to be the biggest doubt for the game against Palace. Tyrone Mings could make his first Premier League appearance in 15 months should injury cover be required.
Midfield
Onana is another player who was hurt while playing for his country – the former Everton midfielder appears to have picked up an injury in Belgium’s 1-0 defeat to Italy in the Nations League, with initial reports identifying a torn muscle in his foot as the problem. Those same early reports suggested that he could be missing for two to three weeks as a result, although the club have not yet commented.
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Hide AdThere are further doubts over the fitness of Jacob Ramsey and Boubacar Kamara (both hamstring), who were both expected to miss up to three weeks of football after picking up injuries in the 2-0 loss to Liverpool. There is some chance that they are available this weekend, but they were not spotted in this week’s images from Bodymoor Heath. Ross Barkley has missed the last three matches with a knock, but was expected to be back in action after the international break and could feature.
Forwards
Both Ollie Watkins and Jhon Durán appeared to get through the international break unscathed, as did Morgan Rogers, meaning it’s likely that Watkins and Rogers start again with Colombia forward Durán playing some role from the bench.
Martínez; Digne, Torres, Diego Carlos, Cash; Tielemans, McGinn; Philogene-Bidace, Rogers, Bailey; Watkins.
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