Aston Villa insider makes Champions League prediction as double injury blow emerges
Bryan King believes Aston Villa are still likely to qualify for the UEFA Champions League despite a double injury blow.
The ex-Villa scout feels that the club’s fringe players will be able to step up in the absence of Youri Tielemans and Emiliano Martinez.
Tielemans has been ruled out of the club’s next two matches (via The Athletic, 29 April) while Martinez is targeting a return in the second leg of Villa’s UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final against Olympiacos on Thursday 9 May (via Birmingham Live, 30 April).
But King – speaking exclusively to Villa News – feels that Unai Emery’s side shouldn’t be impacted too much.
“Tielemans and Martinez are big-name players, but I think Villa have a squad of players who are quite capable of beating anyone in the Premier League,” King said.
“They only have three league games to go and this is now a great opportunity for some of the fringe players to prove they’re up for the fight ahead of next season.
“Villa have a comfortable advantage over Tottenham and it doesn’t look likely that they will be caught, even with these injuries.”
Aston Villa unlikely to fall out of the Premier League top four
Luckily for Villa and Emery, neither injury is as serious as perhaps first feared.
With both players in line to return against Liverpool on Sunday 13 May, it means that the only Premier League game they will miss is the trip to Brighton on Sunday 5 May.
The Seagulls have been in poor form as of late, and Emery will be confident of picking up three more points which could secure Champions League qualification depending on Spurs’ results this week.
In other Aston Villa news, the club have been backed to complete a £43million signing.
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