Aston Villa’s international stars have been in action in recent days, with seven Villa players representing the club on the global stage between UEFA Nations League fixtures as well as AFCON qualifiers.
There were mixed fortunes for Villa’s internationals, but most importantly from Unai Emery’s perspective, their players look to have made it through the first of up to three fixtures unscathed.
There is one minor injury to report, as Zion Suzuki was left out of Japan’s matchday squad for their friendly against Uruguay with what Hochi has called a rib injury. The goalkeeper is reportedly on a different training regimen to the rest of the team as he deals with the issue.
We will have to see whether he features in either of Japan’s other two friendlies against Venezuela on Monday or Ecuador on Thursday, but hopefully his exclusion is just precautionary and is not something that will impact Villa once the international break is over.
Johan Manzambi was lucky to escape Switzerland’s 3-0 win over North Macedonia without damage, as he was on the receiving end of a nasty tackle that gave Villa fans watching on a scare.
Matej Gashtarov was initially sent off for the tackle before VAR overturned the referee’s on-pitch decision. Manzambi played on and there has been no report of an injury, so it appears Villa dodged a bullet.
In the game itself, Manzambi played as a number ten and showed more of the qualities he displayed against Spurs, carrying the ball effectively, beating defenders and linking play in forward areas. He played eight passes into the final third and created two chances in 62 minutes.
One of the more interesting stories of the early stages of the international break is around someone who did not play, as George Hemmings pulled out of the England under-20s squad.
There does not seem to be any injury issue for Hemmings, so it appears he decided he would rather join up with Emery and the rest of the Villa squad for their trip to Spain than stay with the England youth team.
Villa will face Sevilla in a friendly during the break, and in truth it is probably more beneficial for Hemmings to get extra work in with his club at this stage than play for the Under-20s team, which is not exactly the most prestigious compared to the Under-21s for example.
His commitment should go down well with Emery, and being around the first-team while other Villa attackers are away with their countries can only help Hemmings’ case of staying in the manager’s thinking, after recently being dropped from the starting 11 for the 3-2 win over Tottenham.
Only one Villa player found the net during the first round of fixtures as Nicolas Jackson scored Senegal’s only goal in their 1-1 draw with Mozambique.
The goal was typical of Jackson in that it looked a bit scruffy but was creative, as he took a heavy touch in the box before poking the ball over the goalkeeper, who got a touch but could not keep it out.
His fellow countryman Ibrahim Mbaye was subbed on in the 63rd minute, and elsewhere in AFCON qualifying, Aaron Wan-Bissaka played 90 minutes in DR Congo’s 2-0 win over Equatorial Guinea.
Back in Europe, Matty Cash played the full match as Poland drew 0-0 with Bosnia and Herzegovina. He played as a right-wing-back as part of a back five and earned a 7.03 match rating from WhoScored, which was third-best among the Polish starters.
John McGinn’s Scotland also played out a 0-0 draw against Slovenia, with Villa’s captain playing 90 minutes as a number ten.
Victor Lindelof also played the full 90 in Sweden’s 2-1 win over Romania. He played at left-centre-back, rather than on the right side where he has played for Villa so far this season. Matteo Ruggeri, a late call-up to the Italy squad, did not feature in the 2-0 defeat to Belgium.
Overall, the first set of international matches seemed to go pretty smoothly from a Villa perspective, which really just means there were no true injuries to report. Hopefully that continues and they all return to Bodymoor Heath in one piece next week.
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