Unai Emery offers triple Aston Villa fitness update, explains squad rotation in Man City loss
After leading the Villains to a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers last Saturday, Emery opted to make five changes to his starting lineup for the clash at the Etihad Stadium, with Clement Lenglet, Lucas Digne, Nicolo Zaniolo, Jhon Duran and Tim Iroegbunam all recalled.
Pau Torres, Alex Moreno, Youri Tielemans, Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins were the quintet who made way, the latter of whom was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Emery was then forced to make a sixth change less than an hour before kickoff, as goalkeeper Robin Olsen replaced Emiliano Martinez, who pulled out of the first XI through illness.
Villa held their own against Man City for much of the first half, with Duran slotting home a 20th-minute equaliser to cancel out Rodri's early opener, but Phil Foden inspired the Citizens to a comfortable victory with a superb hat-trick.
Foden scored a free kick on the stroke of half time to put the hosts back in front, before netting twice in quick succession midway through the second half to condemn Villa to their eighth league defeat of the season.
Emery defends team selection in Man City defeatEmery has since confirmed that his decision to rotate his side was with the club's hectic fixture schedule in mind, including Saturday afternoon's home encounter with Brentford followed by a Europa Conference League quarter-final clash with Lille next week.
«The changes were needed, for injured players and because we will need players to give them confidence playing and practicing,» Emery said at his post-match press conference.
«We will play a lot of matches in the
Read on sportsmole.co.uk
