Ezri Konsa’s suspension exposes major Aston Villa problem ahead of Brentford
Ezri Konsa will serve a one-match suspension after being sent off for Aston Villa against Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Aston Villa hosted Newcastle on 16 August, and the centre-back was shown a red card at around the hour mark for denying Anthony Gordon an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Konsa will miss the game against Brentford on 23 August, and it will be interesting to see how Unai Emery sets up his defence at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The Spanish manager may have to feature an unorthodox backline against Keith Andrews’ team due to a lack of options in the team.
Aston Villa lack quality right-sided centre-back after Konsa suspension
Konsa’s suspension presents Emery with a dilemma regarding his centre-back pairing against Brentford.
While Pau Torres seems like the go-to replacement for the Spanish manager in such a circumstance, he’s a left-footed player.
Tyrone Mings also plays on the left of a back two, and the Villans could arguably do with reinforcements in their backline before the end of August.
While Lamare Bogarde is at Emery’s disposal, he hasn’t been convincing with the opportunities he’s been given and often features at right-back.
Konsa certainly deserved a red card against Newcastle, but his absence has exposed a significant issue they could potentially have this season.
If the English defender were to get injured for a considerable period, Emery would undoubtedly lack a quality replacement for him in the starting lineup.
Konsa backup: Right-footed centre-backs Villa can sign before Deadline Day
Chelsea defender Axel Disasi could return to Villa after spending the second half of last season on loan in Birmingham.
The French centre-back didn’t have the best of spells at Villa Park, but Emery seemed to have immense faith in him.
Sevilla’s Loic Bade has also been on Villa’s radar, but it remains to be seen whether the 25-year-old France international will be an option for them in the final weeks of the window.
A new centre-back should certainly be on the Villans’ agenda this summer, but only time will tell who will come through the door in B6.
Sign up for the Villa News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking Aston Villa news sent straight to your phone.