Retour
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has revealed that Johan Manzambi will miss Wednesday's Champions League fixture against Viking FK.
After three goals and three assists from six matches, the 21-year-old is seemingly attracting admirers from around Europe.
However, after scoring the decisive goal at Newcastle United on Saturday evening, the Switzerland international picked up an injury, one which he hinted would not keep him out of Villa's next game.
Nevertheless, speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Emery told the media that Manzambi would be absent from his squad for the showdown with the Norwegian champions.
Furthermore, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Matteo Ruggeri have also been ruled out for the foreseeable future.
The Spaniard said: "We are accepting all the injuries we had before. So many players we had injured in our process and we still have some, like [Amadou] Onana for a long time, like Matteo (Ruggeri), which is more or less two months.
"He is coming back and joining us, Ian Maatsen. He joined us and he is training with us this week. Manzambi has a small injury. He is going to not be available for tomorrow, ruled out.
"Aaron Wan-Bissaka has an injury as well. More or less, he will be out for three or four weeks."
As well as Maatsen, Emery confirmed that George Hemmings had also come back into contention after a minor issue.
With there being several statistics which suggest that Viking FK will trouble Aston Villa, Emery will likely name a relatively first-choice starting lineup as his side attempt to record their third successive Champions League victory this season.
At the same time, Villa host Manchester City on Saturday, and Emery will be conscious of the injuries that Villa have already picked up prior to this week's double-header.
Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and Nicolas Jackson are three players who have barely been handed a rest this campaign.
As well as Manzambi being handed an enforced brief rest, it may be beneficial long term for that trio to be brought out of the team for a game.