Aston Villa are expected to be without Brian Madjo and João Gomes when they face Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, leaving Unai Emery with fewer senior options for the club’s final pre-season friendly. The match kicks off at 2.30pm BST, and the timing matters because it is Villa’s last dress rehearsal before the Premier League opener, now only eight days away.
Brian Madjo is reportedly sidelined until at least September after his breakthrough in the UEFA Super Cup, while Gomes is set to miss between two and four weeks after picking up a problem following the PSG game. Villa had travelled to Borussia-Park only three days after that 2-1 defeat, with Marco Bizot starting in goal and Emiliano Martínez back after an extended post-World Cup break. Ollie Watkins has also only recently returned following his own summer break, while Amadou Onana remains out after the serious knee injury he suffered at the World Cup.
That leaves this friendly looking less like a result Villa need to chase and more like a test of how Emery uses the players available to him. Villa confirmed earlier this summer that Borussia Mönchengladbach would be their final pre-season opponent, and the focus now is on which returning names are involved and how much risk Emery is willing to take with them. On Friday, talkSPORT, citing The Athletic, reported the injuries, turning a routine warm-up into a selection problem just before the season starts.
The real story from Saturday may not be the scoreline at all. It is whether Emery can leave Borussia-Park with a team that is fit enough, settled enough and ready enough for the Premier League opener.
