The Villa manager has spoken about his side’s personnel situation after their defeat against West Ham.
Aston Villa suffered a 2-1 defeat against West Ham in their Premier League game on Sunday. Goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Pablo Fornals secured a crucial victory for the Hammers, with Jacob Ramsey’s late strike only ruining their clean sheet.
Having slipped to ninth place on the table, Villa must now prepare to face Arsenal in their next league game on Saturday. However, Steven Gerrard might not have a complete squad at his disposal for the upcoming game.
The Villa boss joked about Douglas Luiz, who had his lips stitched after a nasty challenge from Pablo Fernandes.
“There is going to be a bit of facial reconstruction in terms of Douglas Luiz,” Gerrard said post-match.
“He has a nasty gash in the mouth and will need surgery there. It’s a mouth injury and we’ve done our best for the short term in terms of stitching him up.
“He’s going to need expert help in order to make him look as good as he does but, listen, there will certainly be no kissing from Douglas, let me tell you!”
Two more injuries for Gerrard’s team!
However, Luiz was not the only Villa player that picked up an injury against the Hammers. Lucas Digne limped off the pitch only ten minutes into the game, with Ashley Young then covering for his absence.
“He says it is a small muscle injury,” Gerrard added on Digne.
“We will analyse it with an MRI scan. I am positive in what Lucas has said to me but he is obviously a major doubt for the Arsenal game.
“Elsewhere, Calum is in a similar situation to Dougie off a forearm smash. There are a lot of ice packs about as well. It goes to show it was a tough physical game.”
Before facing Aston Villa, Arsenal will have to meet Liverpool on Wednesday. Let’s see if Gerrard’s side can use their extra rest to their benefit on Saturday.
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