Aston Villa suffered two potentially problematic injuries in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest as Pau Torres and Ian Maatsen both limped off.
Torres left in the first half with a hamstring injury, while Maatsen was forced off with an ankle problem which is expected to keep him out for up to eight weeks, according to The Athletic.
A hamstring is not likely to be as troublesome, and even if Torres does miss the next couple of games, one would imagine he will be ready to go after the upcoming international break.
One of the two matches before then is a Carabao Cup contest against Coventry City, in which Torres and Maatsen may have been rested anyway, but it looks as if Villa will also travel to Tottenham Hotspur in next weekend’s Premier League encounter without the pair of defenders.
The injuries are another tough blow for a team already working through a tricky start to the season after so many key players left in the summer. Their replacements are taking time to settle, in part due to injuries or in the case of Joao Gomes, a three-match ban picked up on his debut.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Leon Goretzka, who is out injured until after the international break, are still yet to feature, while Matteo Ruggeri and Alejandro Garnacho have been limited to a few minutes here and there as they acclimate to Emery’s system.
Johan Manzambi and Ibrahim Mbaye came off the bench to make their debuts for the club on Saturday, with Manzambi having missed all of pre-season with a knee injury.
Villa fans got a glimpse of the potential of Manzambi and in particular Mbaye, who linked up well with Maatsen down the wing. They might have to wait a while to see that promising left-side tandem again if the Dutchman’s injury is as bad as Emery fears.
Ruggeri will now have to deputise for Maatsen, whether he is ready or not, and Emery faces a decision on what to do at centre-back while Torres is out.
If he wants to keep one left-footed centre-back in the lineup, he will slot Tyrone Mings in alongside Victor Lindelof, but that would not help to make up for the passing ability Villa will lose without Torres.
The alternative is to slide Lindelof over to the left side, where he has played in the past and fared well, and bring Harwood-Bellis in on the right. The question is whether he trusts the new signing yet, as the former Southampton defender is yet to make a matchday squad.
As Villa try to build the foundation of a new era, they are living on the margins in each game they play, and they cannot afford the kind of bad luck they have had early in the season in terms of injuries.
It is possible they do not start to show real signs of improvement until they face Brentford in October after the lengthy international break, when Emery has had more time on the training pitch and the squad is healthier.
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