Aston Villa confirm ‘significant’ injury blow ahead of Newcastle United visit - £38m star out

Emi Buendia will miss the match at St James’ Park after suffering a ‘significant knee ligament injury’ in training. The Aston Villa midfielder is set for further consultation with a knee specialist following a scan.

While a blow for Aston Villa, Newcastle may be somewhat relieved to hear of Buendia’s absence given his performance against them during the Premier League Summer Series. The 26-year-old scored twice against The Magpies in the 3-3 draw with Villa in Philadelphia last month.

Villa will also be without Jacob Ramsey following a fractured metatarsal and Alex Moreno due to a hamstring injury.

Newcastle will be without Joe Willock and Emil Krafth this weekend due to respective hamstring and ACL injuries. The pair have missed all of pre-season working on their recovery.

Eddie Howe also has a couple of injury doubts with Fabian Schar missing the final three pre-season matches due to a hamstring injury and Javier Manquillo also missing out with a groin issue. Neither player has been spotted in training heading into the Premier League season opener.

The match could see Howe hand competitive debuts to new summer signings Harvey Barnes, Sandro Tonali and Tino Livramento.

Newcastle finished fourth in the Premier League last season while Villa finished seventh and qualified for the Conference League. Unai Emery’s side were one of just four teams to beat The Magpies in the Premier League last season along with Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal.

The previous league meeting between the two sides finished 3-0 in Villa’s favour.

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