Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has shared some key team news ahead of his side's clash with West Ham on Sunday.
Villa brace for tricky visit of relegation-threatened West Ham
Sunday's game at Villa Park carries real significance for both sides.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery
Villa are chasing a top-four finish and the silverware that has eluded them despite near-misses under Emery. West Ham are scrapping for Premier League survival, in the bottom three and desperate for every point they can get.
When these two meet on Sunday, there will be nothing comfortable about it.
Villa head in having gone four Premier League games without a win, a run that has put pressure on a side that looked genuinely capable of title contention earlier in the campaign.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery looks on Related
[Top target: Aston Villa preparing opening bid to sign £35m "leader" for Emery, they're leading the race](https://www.footballfancast.com/top-transfer-target-aston-villa-preparing-bid-waldemar-anton-unai-emery/ "Top target: Aston Villa preparing opening bid to sign £35m "leader" for Emery, they're leading the race")
Villa have a new primary target.
Emery's team have the quality to beat anyone on their day — they demonstrated that by beating Arsenal and rattling the title challengers earlier in the season — but the consistency has deserted them, and the reasons for that are not hard to identify.
West Ham, meanwhile, arrive with real momentum.
Nuno Espírito Santo has transformed the mood around the London Stadium since the turn of the year, losing just twice in 11 games across all competitions.
The draw against Man City last weekend — a result that lifted them out of the bottom three for the first time since December — showed real resilience, and Villa cannot afford to take a team riding that kind of momentum lightly.
West Ham United's Axel Disasi and Soungoutou Magassa celebrate winning the penalty shootout
Crysencio Summerville, the Hammers' most dangerous attacker, remains out with a calf problem, but Jarrod Bowen is fit and in excellent form, and the threat from wide areas will be very real.
The central problem for Villa has been the midfield.
Boubacar Kamara's season-ending knee injury stripped Emery of one of his best players months ago.
Captain John McGinn has only just returned from injury, while Douglas Luiz, back on loan from Juventus, has provided some cover but has not recaptured the form that once made him one of Villa's best players during his first spell.
The squad has simply lacked control and creativity in the positions that matter most, and it has shown in the results.
Which is why Friday's press conference update on Youri Tielemans will have given Villa fans a bit of a lift — even if he's not a guarantee to return this weekend.
Youri Tielemans returns to Aston Villa training, but West Ham hopes in doubt
The Belgian international has been sidelined since late January, when a collision with Lewis Miley left him with an ankle injury during Villa's 2-0 win at Newcastle.
Youri-Tielemans
Emery confirmed at the time that he would be out for eight to ten weeks.
That recovery is now approaching its conclusion, but Emery says he's unsure whether Tielemans will be ready in time for West Ham, despite returning to training.
"Today is the first time he trained with us, and he's feeling good," Emery said.
"He's important, I don't know if he's going to be in the squad for Sunday. In case he is, try to progressively get him again with us."
The careful, measured language tells its own story.
One training session after nearly two months out does not make a player ready to step into a Premier League fixture, but the significance of Tielemans being back on the grass should not be understated.
He is not simply a holding midfielder or a creator — under Emery he has operated across multiple roles, and his range of passing, composure and ability to control the tempo of a game make him almost impossible to replace.
tielemans-aston-villa-arsenal
He set a Premier League record in November, completing 126 successful passes in a single match against Everton.
Villa will not rush him.
The international break that follows this weekend's fixtures looks the more realistic point at which Tielemans slots back properly.
However, the mere prospect of his imminent return will mean something.
Everton's manager David Moyes during the warm up before the match Related
Everton fear major transfer blow as Aston Villa launch approach to sign £28m star loved by Moyes
Bad news for the Toffees...