Credit: Imago

James Barker

Sat 18 April 2026 15:40, UK

Matty Cash has a tough assignment in store against Sunderland’s Enzo Le Fee when Aston Villa welcome the Black Cats to Villa Park on Sunday.

It’s set to be a crucial game in the race for European football in the Premier League, with Aston Villa looking to secure a Champions League spot, whilst Sunderland make a late push for continental qualification.

Unai Emery‘s side are fresh off the back of a comprehensive two-legged victory over Bologna in the Europa League quarter-finals, whilst Regis Le Bris’ boys have back-to-back league wins under their belt.

As such, it’s sure to be a great game of football at Villa Park, and one that Cash in particular will need to be on his game for.

The Polish defender hasn’t been at his best in recent weeks, but will no doubt get the nod to start for Villa against Sunderland this Sunday.

How much has Matty Cash struggled for Aston Villa recently?

Cash didn’t play well against Nottingham Forest in Villa’s most recent Premier League outing, picking up a yellow card after just 11 minutes.

Forest’s goal that day came down Cash’s side, with the Villans right-back failing to pick up Callum Hudson-Odoi on the back post following Ola Aina’s cross, before he set the ball for Neco Williams to drive home.

As per Sofascore, he also gave the ball away a whopping 22 times against Forest, whilst also failing to accurately complete any of his seven cross attempts before being substituted in the dying minutes of the match.

Cash also wasn’t really in the second-leg Europa League tie against Bologna on Thursday, touching the ball just 34 times, whilst also giving the ball away nine times and being inaccurate with his two cross attempts respectively.

He didn’t cover himself in glory during the first leg win over the Italians either, particularly in the first half, where most of Bologna’s joy came down Villa’s right between him and Ezri Konsa.

The 28-year-old went away with his national team Poland during the March international break as well, but didn’t draw a great reception for his displays against Sweden and Albania respectively.

So, it’s certainly not been Cash’s best few weeks of his career, and it’s sure to have some fans questioning whether it’s nothing more than a bad run of form, or perhaps a sign that maybe Villa need to look towards the future in his position.

Sunderland’s Le Fee can cause Cash plenty of problems

If it’s to be the former of those two possibilities, then he’s going to have a tricky time ending his run of shaky performances against Sunderland on Sunday.

That’s because the Black Cats are sure to deploy their talismanic winger Le Fee on their left at Villa Park, with the Frenchman contributing four goals and four assists in 30 Premier League games this season.

The 26-year-old is an energetic and fearless player, who has the technical ability to make his opponents look rather silly if they don’t get a grip on him.

So, Cash needs to be on his A game if he is indeed to be lining up against Le Fee down the Villa right on Sunday, and if he is, then a big performance against a quality player like him is sure to silence his critics and give him the injection of confidence he needs.