Youri Tielemans is only fit enough for a place on the bench as West Ham United face Unai Emery’s Aston Villa away from home with Premier League survival on the line.
While Nuno selects a Taty Castellanos-Pablo Felipe-Jarrod Bowen front three at Villa Park, their hosts were hoping to have the influential Belgian available again.
Now, Youri Tielemans is back in the Aston Villa squad for the first time since late-January. But the peerless playmaker is only fit enough for a spot among the substitutes, although Unai Emery has already confirmed that he plans to give Tielemans a few, fitness-boosting minutes late in the day.
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In theory, West Ham United’s job should be ever-so-slightly easier against a Villa side without arguably their most important player. Well, from the start at least.
West Ham United face Aston Villa without Youri Tielemans fully fit
Aston Villa have played 20 Premier League matches since Tielemans returned from an early-season calf problem back in September. The former Leicester City and Monaco ace started 12 consecutive top flight matches between then and his return to the treatment table, with Villa winning nine of them.
In contrast, they have won only one and lost four of the eight games since finding themselves without Tielemans again.
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This means Aston Villa averaged 2.25 points per game during Tielemans’ run of twelve successive starts, compared to 0.7 during his recent absence.
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“The national team for them is very important. And he’s very intelligent,” Emery said of Tielemans in his pre-match press conference. “He’s recovering just to play some minutes on Sunday with us and to go with his national team.”
Mateus Fernandes up against Amadou Onana at Villa Park
Only Morgan Rogers has more assists in the Premier League than Tielemans’ four, while only Douglas Luiz averages more key passes per game. Luiz, interestingly, is also among the substitutes; rested after Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League last-16 victory over Lille.
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Aston Villa have a midfielder in ‘incredible’ form in Mateus Fernandes. Buoyed by his first-ever call-up to the senior Portugal side, the Algarve-born action man should be in fine nick up against a Villa midfield without both Tielemans and Luiz.
Amadou Onana is a former West Ham target, of course. He starts alongside Ross Barkley and John McGinn in a Villa engine room high on experience but perhaps lacking in real, game-changing technical nous.
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