Unai Emery to snub Calum Chambers at Aston Villa despite latest injury issues
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Alan Hutton doesn’t see Calum Chambers being in Unai Emery’s starting line-up any time soon at Aston Villa.
Chambers, 28, hasn’t played in the Premier League yet this season with the former Arsenal defender remaining an unused substitute in all four games.
He’s been a bit-part player for the Villans since his arrival in January 2022, playing just 29 times for the West Midlands club since his move from the Emirates.
However, Emery’s defence has started to be hit with a number of injury issues with Tyrone Mings and Diego Carlos both picking up problems in recent weeks.
Despite these issues, Hutton doesn’t see Chambers, who’s been capped three times by England, being able to force his way into the starting line-up to play against Crystal Palace on Saturday (15 September).
“Not at this moment in time,” said Hutton to Villa News when asked if Chambers has any kind of chance of breaking into the starting line-up.
“If everybody comes back fit, it’ll probably be Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa with Matty Cash and Lucas Digne [in full-back roles] and obviously Alex Moreno is coming back as well.
“I don’t see it (Chambers starting).
“At this moment, he’s a squad player.
“Can he push them? Of course, he can. But he’ll obviously have to step up a little bit because if he was playing at that level, the manager would put him in the starting 11.
“I don’t see Unai Emery making too many changes but you never know after an international break if somebody comes back tired from travelling or with a little niggle.”
In other Aston Villa news, a new signing has already held crunch talks with Emery and a BBC Sport pundit has reacted.