Unai Emery faces fresh new blow ahead of AZ Alkmaar clash as Injury Expert shares Matty Cash update
Unai Emery faces a fresh injury blow at Aston Villa ahead of Europa Conference League clash v AZ Alkmaar this week as defender Matty Cash could miss the game.
Injury Expert Ben Dinnery sharing in his Premier League Injuries table (7 November), has placed the Polish international’s fitness status at 25% after he was withdrawn inside 60 minutes during their 2-0 Nottingham Forest defeat with a shoulder injury.
The Villans will be looking to secure their place in the Europa Conference League knockout stages when they take on the Dutch giants at Villa Park on Thursday (9 November), currently sitting second in their group, level on points with Legia Warsaw.
However, Emery will have to face off against the Dutch giants without one of his key defenders in Cash which could mean the Spaniard recalls Calum Chambers at right-back or deploy Ezri Konsa in the position with Diego Carlos set to start for the second European game in a row.
Villa Park fan-favourite Cash hasn’t enjoyed the best run of form of late either which will certainly have Emery worried, when he does return to fitness, hopefully for Sunday’s crucial encounter with Fulham (12 November).
Cash has proven a crucial commodity in the Aston Villa side in recent seasons after some mature, assured and dominant performances at right-back since his move from Nottingham Forest in 2020.
The latter stages of the 2022/23 campaign had been something of an unfortunate struggle for the Polish international, suffering from injuries and a lack of form but returned this season in top fitness.
However, the former Nottingham Forest man has been like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde so far this campaign, brilliant on several occasions and woeful on others.
Against the Dutch outfit during their impressive 4-1 win at the AFAS Stadium (26 October), Cash was handed the worst average score of any Villa player [via SofaScore] at a dreadful 6.2/10 and his underlying stats prove why, winning just three of his eight duels at a worrying success rate of 38% lost possession 11 times and completed just one dribble given he’s expected to provide Villa with the width on the right.
The Luton Town win saw an improved performance, registering two key passes, one big chance created, successfully completed 50% of his dribbles and 92% of his passes but again Mr Hyde reared his ugly head as he was woeful against Forest on Sunday (5 November).
As per SofaScore, the Pole failed to win 100% of his total duels, failed to register a single tackle, failed with 100% of his dribbles, only touched the ball 49 touches, completed one key pass and lost possession of the ball seven times before being dragged off with a shoulder injury.
Right now, Cash is incredibly fortunate he is Emery’s only specialist right-back available right now or he could well have lost his spot a long time ago.
Who comes in to replace Cash when he’s off form? That’s the concern Emery will have right now and Cash’s latest performances could well force NSWE to dip into the January market for another right back.
However, for now, once he returns from his latest setback, the Polish international will need to remarkably improve if he is to be Emery’s favourite in the position for the long haul.
What the former Villarreal coach chooses to do in his absence at Villa Park on Thursday, remains uncertain.
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