Aston Villa
On Sunday, Aston Villa settled for a 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest at the Citty Ground.
Unai Emery had Emiliano Martínez in his starting lineup. However, the goalkeeper had to withdraw from the squad and Marco Bizot started ahead of the 33-year-old in the Premier League clash against the Reds.
After the match, the Aston Villa manager said the Argentina international felt a pain in his calf during the warm-up and didn’t feel comfortable to play.
Emery didn’t provide any information on whether the World Cup winner will be out of action for a while.
Updates from Argentina on Aston Villa star
TyC Sports journalist Gastón Edul took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share a short update on Emiliano Martínez.
He reports the Aston Villa stopper didn’t feature yesterday due to a strained calf. Edul adds the South American’s injury is ‘muscular and his absence today [Sunday] won’t be a problem’.
Olé in Argentina also report the initial prognosis generates minimum concern.
While his withdrawal during the pre-match warmup raised alarm bells with the national team, post-match ‘news is more encouraging’.
The newspaper makes it clear it’s their own information and insist the Aston Villa man’s problem was a ‘mild strain‘ in his calf.
Although there’s no serious concern, the Argentine will undergo tests on Monday to get more clarity.
Martínez has been the No.1 for the Villans since arriving at Villa Park from Arsenal in 2020 and has 11 clean sheets and conceded 38 goals from 35 matches this season.
His Premier League stats this season are as follows:
Appearances: 27
Starts: 27
Total minutes: 2,385
Clean sheets: 8
Goals conceded: 29
Saves per game: 2.9
Total saves: 79
Martínez, who came close to leaving Villa Park last summer, may consider changing clubs after this season. Last month, Sport Witness relayed news that Emery is leading Aston Villa’s pursuit of Cagliari goalkeeper Elia Caprile.
Our take: Aston Villa man key for Emery
The Villans are in the fight to qualify for the Champions League and can achieve it by finishing in the top five in the league. They are now fourth in the table, three points ahead of fifth placed Liverpool.
Aston Villa can also qualify by winning the Europa League this season and have a 3-1 first leg lead against Bologna in their quarterfinal.
Unai Emery and Aston Villa will hope Emiliano Martínez will be fit for the upcoming clash against Bologna on Thursday.