Aston Villa are nearing a return to competitive action as the international break winds down, and two of the bigger positives of the three-week break are that they look to have avoided any notable injuries, and players who were injured previously are returning to fitness.
Ian Maatsen seems to be the only medium-term absentee at present, although Leon Goretzka is still yet to play a minute for Villa and it remains to be seen how soon he will be ready to contribute.
Unai Emery should have a deep squad to pick from during a fixture-heavy October, but will also give him plenty of selection headaches not only in terms of who starts, but which players to leave out of the matchday squad entirely.
Broken down into four groups, here are 10 players who could fail to even earn a place on the bench in Villa’s imminent fixtures:
Tyrone Mings or Taylor Harwood-Bellis
Going back to the Arsenal game, there has only been one centre-back on Villa’s bench in each of the last six competitive fixtures, and there is no reason for that to change.
With Pau Torres and Victor Lindelof seemingly the preferred starters right now, that means one of Mings or Harwood-Bellis will probably be left out of the squad each game.
The decision on which player missed out may actually be helped by the fact Harwood-Bellis was omitted from Villa’s Champions League squad. Emery could therefore decide to put him on the bench in the Premier League, knowing he cannot play in Europe, when he can go with Mings instead.
Ross Barkley, Lamare Bogarde or Leon Goretzka
Emery has only included two central midfielders on the bench when there has been an injury at full-back, as has been the case multiple times already with Maatsen and Matty Cash missing time. When all the full-backs have been fit, he has put both a left-back and a right-back on the bench.
For now, both Barkley and Bogarde are likely to keep their place in the squad as Maatsen works his way back, but when he is available again, Emery will have a decision to make between Barkley, who is the more accomplished option in possession, or the more versatile Bogarde.
Once Goretzka is back to full fitness, he will vie for not only a place on the bench but the starting 11, which will make the central midfield battle even more competitive.
Alejandro Garnacho, George Hemmings or Alysson
This assumes that for now, John McGinn, Johan Manzambi and Emi Buendia are Emery’s favoured options. They did not spend £47m on Ibrahim Mbaye to leave him out of the squad entirely, so he will at worst be on the bench.
Villa have had a minimum of three attacking midfielders among their substitutes in each of the last six games, and have had as many as four when there have been injuries or suspensions at other positions.
With the squad getting healthier though, they may drop back down to three, and that means one of Garnacho, Hemmings or Alysson will have to miss out.
Garnacho looks to have made real progress based on his performance against Sevilla and will likely take one of those spots, so it may be a battle between the two young wingers for the final place on the bench.
Tammy Abraham or Brian Madjo
Similar to centre-back, Villa have only put one striker on the bench in each game, and that will likely be the case moving forward, forcing a decision between Abraham and Madjo.
Once again the configuration of their Champions League squad could play into the decision, with Madjo not included. Emery could therefore give him the spot on the bench for their Premier League games and then use Abraham in Europe.
Abraham looked to be out of Emery’s plans at the end of August but has picked up his form recently and did get the start over Madjo in Villa’s friendly versus Sevilla. Let’s see how long he can hold off the teenage talent from overtaking him.
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