Aston Villa will be missing a number of important players, who share 57 Premier League appearances between them this season
Isaac Johnson Leeds United reporter
16:00, 17 Feb 2026
Unai Emery will miss these key stars
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Unai Emery will miss these key stars(Image: Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Unai Emery will be without at least three key players for Aston Villa’s home clash with Leeds United on Saturday with a fourth a doubt to participate.
Winger and captain John McGinn is not expected back until March after suffering a knee injury last month while midfielder Youri Tielemans is set to be absent until April with an ankle issue.
Meanwhile, Boubacar Kamara’s season is over after suffering a knee injury against Tottenham in last month’s FA Cup third round tie. Between all three of them, they have played 57 Premier League games this season and account for four goals and 10 assists.
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Back-up goalkeeper Marco Bizot is suspended for Saturday’s game, having received a red card in Villa’s fourth round FA Cup loss to Newcastle United on Saturday, though Emiliano Martinez is expected to return between the posts as number one pick.
There is ambiguity over the availability of right-back Matty Cash, who has missed Villa’s last two matches due to a knee issue. It is thought he could make a return to the squad against Leeds, though how much he will be involved remains to be seen.
Daniel Farke has four players with concerns over them, albeit all of them could be in contention for the trip to Villa Park. Anton Stach and Pascal Struijk could return from hip flexor problems having been given added rest from Sunday’s FA Cup shoot-out win over Birmingham City.
Daniel James missed the squad due to back complaints and was kept out of the squad as a precaution. Meanwhile, Noah Okafor had to be withdrawn before full-time at St Andrew’s with a muscle problem in his leg, suspected to be hamstring, though Farke hoped it was just cramp ahead of further assessments.
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All the while, Leeds have had a day less to prepare for the match than Villa, having also played a full 120 minutes due to extra time being needed to decide Sunday’s tie. James Justin, Jaka Bijol and Gabriel Gudmundsson are three first XI regulars who played the full two hours.