Aston Villa hosts Everton at Villa Park this Saturday (14th September) in the Premier League's 17:30 kick-off. Villa will be looking to secure their first home win of the season while bottom-of-the-table Everton will be attempting to secure their first points of the season having lost their first three fixtures. We look at the early team news heading into this weekend's match.
Aston Villa
There are two significant worries for Villa heading into Saturday's game. Ollie Watkins was forced to withdraw from the England squad last week ahead of their fixture against Ireland on Saturday. It was deemed that the forward was not fit enough to be part of the squad and therefore he was sent back to Bodymoor Heath for further assessment on an 'ongoing issue'. After seeing Watkins perform poorly in Villa's opening three games, the news of his withdrawal comes as a worry for Villa fans. Time will tell later this week to see if he can play any part on Saturday.
The second significant worry for Villa regards the fitness of Leon Bailey. The Jamaican international suffered a hamstring injury in the victory at Leicester City after stretching in an attempt to block the ball. He was forced to withdraw from the Jamaica squad as a result and is now a serious doubt for the match against Everton, and potentially Villa's opening Champions League fixtures against BSC Young Boys.
Leon Bailey was taken off with a hamstring injury. Stretch mechanism as he was trying to intercept the ball.
— Physio Scout | Football Injury Analysis (@physioscout) August 31, 2024
Hopefully tightness rather than a strain, but even a minor strain could see him out of action for 2+ weeks. Scans will determine recovery time, however, it looks to be… pic.twitter.com/UbeUuHCJhG
Matty Cash is likely to be missing from the matchday squad again following the thigh injury sustained in the defeat to Arsenal over two weeks ago. It is believed Cash will return to training in the week that follows the match against Everton. That means either Lamare Bogarde, who started at right-back against Leicester, or Kosta Nedeljkovic will start at Villa Park. Diego Carlos is also likely to remain sidelined through injury.
Jaden Philogene is also a doubt after injury kept him out for the game against the Foxes, however, he is more likely than others to return.
Long-term absentees Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara are edging closer to a return to the Villa squad, but will certainly miss this weekend's game. Mings has returned to full training with the squad whilst Kamara is thought to be in line to return to training by the end of September. Emi Buendia, who has also missed over a year of action following his ACL troubles, returned to competitive action for Villa U21's last week and scored two goals against Fleetwood Town. Buendia is looking fit and is ready to play a part for the Villa first XI.
Everton
The Toffees will be without some key players for their trip to Villa Park.
Centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite has not played a minute of football this season after being forced to undergo groin surgery. It is believed that the young English defender could return to training in the next couple of weeks but is thought to be a fair way from being back in the matchday squad.
Everton captain Seamus Coleman was forced off with a nasty injury during Ireland's 2-0 loss to England on Saturday evening. In an accidental clash with Harry Maguire, Coleman limped off the field with an ankle injury and is unlikely to be ready to face Villa.
Armando Broja joined Everton from Chelsea on deadline day after appearing to be close to a move to Ipswich Town. The Toffees were delighted to seal the Albanian forwards signing but he is a definite miss for Everton this weekend, as an achilles injury will keep him out of action until at least October.
Young Scottish defender Nathan Patterson will also miss the game following surgery on a hamstring injury that ruled him out of Euro 2024, whilst forward Youssef Chermiti is also out with injury.
UTV