Statement released and manager speaks out in double Aston Villa injury blow ahead of Leeds United clash
Aston Villa have a couple of fresh injury issues to manage ahead of their weekend Premier League meeting with Leeds United at Elland Road.
Leeds United’s upcoming opponents Aston Villa have been left sweating on the fitness of two defenders ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash.
The Whites host Villa at Elland Road on Sunday looking to bounce back from consecutive away defeats at Brighton and Nottingham Forest. Players from both sides still have international commitments to fulfil and managers from either end will be waiting nervously for their stars to return unscathed.
Villa, however, are set to welcome two of their international stars back early due to fitness concerns, including Ezri Konsa. The centre-back, who has started 10 Premier League games so far and been in great form, picked up a calf problem during England’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Serbia on Thursday and missed Sunday’s trip to Albania.
“Ezri has a tight calf and couldn’t finish training today,” Tuchel told talkSPORT over the weekend. “He will get further assessment in London and he’s stayed in London. We think it’s nothing, we don’t even think it’s an injury, but it’s just a discomfort and not worth the risk.
“They were very strong, Ezri in particular in all the matches he’s played, but at the same time he played a lot for Aston Villa. He arrived with a lot of minutes in camp so he was a candidate to maybe get a break. Now he’s taken the break and is forced to take a break, it’s not a problem.”
Also heading back for further assessment at Aston Villa is Lamare Bogarde, who was forced to withdraw from Netherlands Under-21 duty due to what has been described as ‘minor symptoms’. The versatile defender has played in seven league games for Unai Emery’s side across midfield and defence.
A statement from the Dutch FA said: "Lamare Bogarde has left the Dutch U21 training camp. The Aston Villa player, who reported to Zeist on Monday with minor symptoms, is not fit enough to play this international break.”
Double Aston Villa injury concern ahead of Elland Road trip
Konsa and Bogarde will both undergo further assessment at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training ground ahead of next week’s trip to Leeds. The pair have a full week to rest and recover before that Sunday afternoon clash at Elland Road, with Emery expected to provide some more clarity on them later this week.
Should either miss out, it will compound defensive problems for a Villa side who have also been without Tyrone Mings in recent weeks. The experienced centre-back was forced off with a hamstring injury against Liverpool last month and remains a doubt for Sunday’s meeting with Leeds.
Konsa started alongside Pau Torres in Villa’s most recent game, a 4-0 thumping of Bournemouth, with former Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof in reserve if needed. Leeds are still waiting for their international stars to get through the second round of fixtures without injury.
Lindelöf's Swedish international teammate Gabriel Gudmundsson sat out a training session last week but came off the bench in his side’s 4-1 defeat to Switzerland. Club captain Ethan Ampadu picked up a one-game suspension in Wales’ win over Liechtenstein and will therefore not face North Macedonia alongside Karl Darlow, Joe Rodon and Dan James.
Jaka Bijol, Ilia Gruev, Ao Tanaka and Brenden Aaronson also have international fixtures to get through early this week. American Aaronson will be the latest to return, with the USA’s meeting with Uruguay not finishing until around 2am on Wednesday morning.