Aston Villa play host to Southampton on Saturday afternoon, but will have to make do without defensive pair Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa for the clash against the South Coast outfit.
Steven Gerrard’s men will be looking to close the gap on Southampton, which currently stands at 5 points, with a win over Ralph Hassenhutl’s high flying Saints, who are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games and dispatched of West Ham in the fifth round of the FA Cup in midweek.
Villa, meanwhile, have lost two of their last 5 Premier League games, and despite the performances of Philippe Coutinho and Jacob Ramsay, sit marooned in 13th place after an underwhelming season to date.
An already difficult afternoon has been made more difficult, then, by the announcement that both Konsa and Digne will miss out for Aston Villa after testing positive to COVID-19.
Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne miss out for the Villains after testing positive for COVID-19.
🚨 https://t.co/cckOHhGs0b#AVFC
— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) March 5, 2022
It means that both Calum Chambers and Ashley Young have been handed starts by Gerrard for the mid-table clash.
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Will they miss any other games?
Aston Villa travel to Elland Road to take on Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United side on Thursday evening, which is precisely 5 days from the Southampton clash. This means that the pair will be touch and go for the trip to Yorkshire, and may well have to take to the pitch without a training session under their belts.
Given Young’s age, two games in five days may not be possible, so Gerrard will be hoping that Digne is back fit and firing for Thursday.
