Aston Villa starter to miss Arsenal clash with new injury confirmed | OneFootball

Pau Torres will miss Aston Villa’s trip to Arsenal next week through injury, with the defender also ruled out of their upcoming Champions League matches.

Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images

After his early withdrawal in Aston Villa’s final game of 2024, Pau Torres is set for two months out with a broken metatarsal.

Villa boss Unai Emery confirmed the news late last week, saying: “Pau Torres has broken his fourth metatarsal and he is going to be out for, more or less, two months.”

With less than two weeks until Villa visit the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, January 18th, there’s now no possibility that Torres will be fit to feature in the contest. The defender had started 18 of Villa’s 19 games in the Premier League prior to his injury.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Torres will also be absent for Villa’s final two games of the Champions League’s League Phase, with Emery’s side joining Arsenal in competing for a top-eight finish in the competition. Both teams have 13 points, separated only by goal difference at this stage.

Villa face Monaco and Celtic in their final two games, which should be winnable matches, so Arsenal have their work cut out to stay ahead of their domestic rivals.

John McGinn should also miss the Arsenal match, with Emery suggesting he “could be out for two, three, four, five weeks” with a hamstring problem. But Diego Carlos and Jaden Philogene should be back in time.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

The other doubt to face the Gunners is striker Jhon Duran, who is currently serving a suspension. Though Duran’s initial three-match ban will end after Villa’s FA Cup match against West Ham on Friday, he’s been charged with improper conduct and could receive an additional ban as a result.

An extra two-game ban (if confirmed soon) would see Duran missing the Arsenal match, as would an extra one-game ban if it isn’t confirmed until after Villa’s fixture against Everton next Wednesday.

So that situation is still very uncertain at this stage, and the timing and length of any ban will affect his potential participation at the Emirates.