Victor Lindelof dealt cruel blow away from Aston Villa as press officer speaks out
Victor Lindelof has emerged as a doubt for Sweden’s World Cup qualifying clash with Switzerland on Saturday.
The Aston Villa defender has been used sparingly since arriving at Villa Park in the summer.
Lindelof‘s only two starts so far for have both come in the Europa League, most recently in Villa’s 3-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Former Manchester United centre-back Lindelof remains a regular for Sweden, however, and has been named captain of his national side.
But in what should have been a special week for the 31-year-old, he may now have to sit out the game with Switzerland amid a new update.
Victor Lindelof misses Sweden training
Swedish outlet Fotbollskanalen reported on Friday that Lindelof missed that day’s training session due to a “medical condition”.
It is not clear what the problem is, but Sweden’s press officer Petra Thoren told the outlet it is just a minor problem and he is working separately in the gym.
Either way, missing training on the eve of a game is never good news. And it may well be that Lindelof is denied the chance to earn his 73rd Sweden cap this weekend.
That would be a cruel blow for the defender, and not least new manager Graham Potter as he embarks on this latest era in his career.
Sweden are bottom of Group B and need two wins from their games with Switzerland and Slovenia to have a chance of a top-two finish.
How has Victor Lindelof performed for Aston Villa so far?
Lindelof’s Villa career has yet to really get going, but that is not to say he has been a bad signing for Unai Emery’s side as he is able to provide cover and a rotation option.
Indeed, Lindelof caught the eye in his most recent outing against Maccabi as he jointly led the way among Villa players for tackles (two), and was bettered only by Ezri Konsa (94) for passes (72).
Starting at right-back that day, Lindelof also registered one key pass and was successful from 93 per cent of his passes, which is not bad going at all.
That is up on his average of the season of 82 per cent in the Premier League, albeit he has spent just 21 minutes on the field in total.
Villa fans have hardly seen the best of Lindelof yet – and it may well be that they never do – but he ranks in the top five per cent of all centre-backs for pass completion across Europe’s top five leagues over the past 12 months.
And as per FBref, he is also in the top 11 per cent for progressive carries, which highlights the ability to get the ball forward from the back.
Lindelof will have to make due with substitute cameos and European starts for now, so it will be a real shame if he is also denied the chance to start for his national side.
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