Injury specialist, Ben Dinnery, recently revealed that Aston Villa could be in serious trouble if star goalkeeper Emi Martinez is not available on Friday night as they will have to start a development team player in goal.
Martinez has been a key player for Villa since he joined the club back in 2020 for £15.66m and has been trusted by former manager Dean Smith and now Steven Gerrard between the sticks, with no real competition.
However, it now looks like this could come to bite the team as Martinez could be out of their game against Southampton due to illness, which will level them with no backup in the first team.
As a result, Dinnery revealed they could end up starting the game with 19-year-old Filip Marshall, who has never made a Premier League appearance, as their second option Robin Olsen is also out with a banged-up knee.
Dinnery told the Premier FPL Injuries show, “Steven Gerrard, problems in the goalkeeping department for Aston Villa. Namely number one Argentine Emi Martinez fell ill overnight, although Gerrard is still hopeful that he will recover from an illness and make himself available.
“Now that complicates things because number two, former Everton goalkeeper Robin Olsen took a bang to the knee in training. Now again, it isn’t thought to be too serious. He isn’t completely ruled out.
“But there are certainly question marks over his availability. Jed Steer number three goalkeeper has been out with a long-term Achilles issue, which would mean that if all three were unavailable, then 19-year-old Filip Marshall from the development team would be promoted.” (0:24)
TIF Thoughts on Dinnery’s comments…
Villa have struggled so far this season as they currently sit 17th in the table, having only managed one win and have lost three of their last four games. They have also conceded 10 goals so far with Martinez starting between the sticks.
If they are without their star man for the Saints game they are going to struggle to keep the ball out of the back of the net. They already have injuries on their backline, add an inexperienced goalkeeper to this mix and it could get really bad for the Midlands team.
Fans will be hoping their star goalkeeper will be fit and healthy. If he is they have every chance to pick up a win in this game, if not, I struggle to see how they will keep the ball out of their net and therefore lose out on a must-win game.
Will Villa lose without Martinez?Yes
No
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