With one win in their last five matches, Aston Villa are falling behind in the race for Champions League qualification. To make matters worse for Unai Emery, injuries are piling up as his side prepare for a tough run in.
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that Pau Torres, Ross Barkley, Matty Cash, and Amadou Onana have been ruled out ahead of their Premier League clash against Liverpool on Wednesday evening at the Villa Park.
Centre half Torres has been is out for two months due to a metatarsal fracture sustained while clearing a ball in the first half of Villa’s 2-2 draw against Brighton.
Emery confirmed Ross Barkley will miss two to three weeks action after suffering a calf injury in the FA Cup match against West Ham. Barkley came off 23 minutes into the tie and was replaced by Amadou Onana who is now also injured with a hamstring injury and is also out. Matty Cash is yet another key player who will miss out due to an unspecified muscle injury.
Speaking during a post-match interview Unai Emery said “We will see it. We are always trying to get better after every decision. In our process, we are trying to be demanding of our objectives, so we have to work hard, and we have to be close to our objectives. Everything we are doing here and working for, we have to be optimistic.”
With several players sidelined, Emery has a mammoth task on hands to get his Villa side back into the race for the top four. The Midlands occupy ninth spot on the standings, six points off fourth-placed Manchester City.
Liverpool vs Aston Villa last five matches:
- Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa
- Aston Villa 3-3 Liverpool
- Liverpool 3-0 Aston Villa
- Liverpool 1-1 Aston Villa
- Aston Villa 1-3 Liverpool
