Aston Villa takes on AZ Alkmaar at Villa Park on Thursday, November 9, marking a significant turning point in their UEFA Europa Conference League campaign.
Thursday presents Unai Emery’s team with a chance to bounce back from their shocking loss to Nottingham Forest on Sunday. If Villa wins and Legia Warszawa loses any ground to Zrinjski, they will move up to the top of their Conference League group.
Just before the hour, goals from John McGinnn, Youri Tielemans, Leon Bailey, and Ollie Watkins helped Villa upset the Dutch team 4-1. Despite Ibrahim Sadiq’s consoling goal in the 65th minute, Villa will be riding high after their most recent encounter.
Ahead of Thursday’s clash, here’s the latest injury and team news from both the Aston Villa and AZ Alkmaar camps
News on the Aston Villa team
Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia are two chronic absentees. Both Buendia, who had a “serious” knee injury during training, and Mings, who was carted off during the season’s first match against Newcastle United, are anticipated to miss 2023–2024.
Due to a foot injury, Jacob Ramsey won’t be able to play again until after the international break. Jacob is improving on his own and working alone, but not for the next two weeks leading up to the [international] break, according to Unai Emery. I believe he won’t be accessible.
Villa have two doubts meanwhile with Matty Cash picking up a shoulder injury in the defeat against Nottingham Forest, whilst Jhon Duran has an infected toe which has ruled him out for last few matches
AZ Alkmaar squad updates
Sem Westerveld of AZ Alkmaar hasn’t played since July due to a meniscus injury. Although the goalie hasn’t played in a league game for the team, he was one of the replacements during their most recent Europa Conference League run.
Mees de Wit is hurt as well; he missed time due to a foot injury sustained in the middle of September. This season, the 25-year-old has only played 45 minutes. That occurred in a second-round qualifying match against Brann, and at the beginning of September, he was an unutilized substitute against Vitesse.
Mayckel Lahdo will miss a second game due to suspension after receiving a red card against Zrinjski. With three goals and two assists in ten Eredivisie games, his absence is a loss.
He was substituted after just 22-minutes at the weekend, though it is unclear whether it was tactical or an injury.
Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored in ten straight games for Arizona and was voted Player of the Month for October, is the player to watch. With five goals in the league last month, he currently has 14 goals in nine games, with an average of 1.48 goals per 90 games.
In their most recent game, Alkmaar and Excelsior drew 1-1. Lahdo scored in the 72nd minute, but AZ had to settle for a point on the road after conceding in the first minute of stoppage time.
Ryan, Wolfe, Martins Indi (Penetra 65), Bazoer, Sugawara, Mijnans, Clasie, van Brederod (van Bommel 87), De Wit (Dantas, 65), Odgaard (Lahdo, 65) (Sadiq, 87), Pavlidis are the final eleven for AZ Alkmaar.
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