Fulham v Aston Villa: Unai Emery's men have injury worries but club’s in rude health
When Villa arrive in west London tomorrow, there may be a few in the ranks who will reflect on the progress made since their trip to the banks of the Thames almost exactly two years ago.
Sunday marks the two-year anniversary of Villa hitting their lowest ebb since their return to the Premier League and a dismal defeat at Fulham that spelled the end for Steven Gerrard as boss.
That abject performance, a 3-0 capitulation that saw joint owner Nassef Sawiris pull the trigger on Gerrard before the journey back to the Midlands, left Villa mired in the relegation zone.
Happily, from a claret and blue perspective, that nadir paved the way for the Unai Emery era. The stunning renaissance under the Spaniard culminated in the unlikeliest surge to Europe in his first season, then bettered with qualification for the Champions League in his second.
The near-miracles worked by Emery are reflected in the fact that so much of Gerard’s Villa squad remain today, with the likes of Emiliano Martinez, Matty Cash, Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins – all of whom played in that shocker two years ago – set to line up again tomorrow.
That’s not to mention others still at Villa Park currently on the injury list or on their way back from long periods out, meaning Emery’s legendary planning skills may be tested to their fullest this weekend.
Of those, skipper John McGinn may have a better chance of being fit than Ezri Konsa after their respective hamstring injuries. Konsa’s absence is less serious than first feared, but it may be too early to take a risk on the centre-half, while McGinn could be back for the first time since limping off against Wolves last month.
Villa will be hoping Jacob Ramsey – another of that team which surrendered at Craven Cottage two years back – will be pushing for a place having been forced off during the win over Bayern Munich just over a fortnight ago. The fixture may provide an opportunity for Emi Buendia to get more minutes on his road back to full fitness, but again it appears most likely he will come on from the bench.
Villa also have concerns among newer recruits with Amadou Onana and Jaden Philogene cause for concern as well. Ross Barkley will likely come in if Onana is unable to recover in time but summer recruit Barkley may feel he deserves to get the nod after a number of impressive performance from the bench – as well as when starting in Villa’s last outing in the goalless draw with Manchester United.
Philogene was withdrawn late into his appearance for England under-21s this week. He underwent scans and Villa will be sweating on his availability. All of those worries could prompt Emery to ponder personnel changes for Saturday.
Whatever team the 52-year-old opts for, however, there is little doubt Villa are in a far healthier position than that awful night by the Thames two years back.
