Manchester United in injury wait ahead of Aston Villa Carabao Cup tie
Aston Villa will take on Manchester United for the second time in five days on Thursday (10 September) with the Carabao Cup on the agenda.
Unai Emery’s first game in charge of the Villans on Sunday (6 November) saw a sensational display and a 3-1 win for the home side and more of the same will be demanded in the League Cup.
But Erik Ten Hag could have plenty more players back in the fold for the return fixture, however, with Bruno Fernandes back from suspension after picking up too many yellow cards in the Premier League.
Jadon Sancho and Antony are also doubts for the game but could both feature in some capacity should Ten Hag want to field a strong side against Aston Villa.
“There are some players coming back but also some question marks,” he said, as quoted by Birmingham Live. “Anthony Martial played 20 minutes before and he will hopefully continue that. I think he is capable of playing more minutes.
“Jadon Sancho – we have to wait. Antony – we have to wait.”
Go again
Most teams have opted to heavily rotate their teams for the Carabao Cup so far but Aston Villa could really gain some momentum by sticking with what worked against United last time.
They blew away the best the Red Devils could offer and if the Dutch manager chooses to rotate like many have, they could go and annihilate them in an embarrassing fashion.
Emery, though, may want to assess all of his players before the World Cup break hits and a rotated side would give him that chance while still having a fairly competitive side.
A Carabao Cup run would be fantastic for the club and its supporters but the bigger picture has to be taken into account and the Premier League is the absolute priority.
Luckily for Emery, he has a long break without any games to come where he can get to work with some of his players not heading for Qatar which will be the biggest benefit to him.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans paid a whopping seven-figure sum to bring Steven Gerrard and his backroom staff to the club from Rangers.