Unai Emery says Donyell Malen is available to make his Aston Villa debut against Arsenal.
Malen sealed a move to Villa Park earlier this week for a fee of £21million and has been training with his new teammates this week.
The versatile Dutch striker, who can operate in all three positions behind the striker, gives Emery’s men an extra boost in attack as they continue to battle in the Premier League and Champions League.
Emery said: “He usually plays as a number seven and sometimes as a number 11 on the left side, while he can also play as a number ten.
“In the attacking third, he is always on the verge of entering the opponent’s box to score goals and get assists. We will need a player like him who tries to threaten the opposition at the back.
Villa at the turn
Villa ended a run of five consecutive away defeats with a 1-0 win over Everton on Wednesday thanks to Ollie Watkins’ winner at Goodison Park, while they also started the year with three straight wins.
Emery added: “We can feel a bit of confidence after our win at Everton, but the challenge tomorrow will be to be competitive. By being competitive we can be on the verge of a good result.
“Arsenal tomorrow will be very, very difficult. Every game we face is very, very difficult – at Everton as well.
“We are preparing for the match, we are very motivated and we will try to play, improving the things we did at Everton and improving the things we did away in the last matches against the best teams in the Premier League .
“Tomorrow we face one of the candidates and favorites to win the Premier League.”
Unai Emery: “We can feel a bit of confidence after our win at Everton, but the challenge tomorrow is once again to try and be competitive. By being competitive we can be on the verge of a good result. pic.twitter.com/uwdGUgXMWv
– Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 17, 2025
Return from the Emirates
Emery returns to the Emirates on Saturday for the first time since former club Arsenal ended the Gunners’ title hopes with a 2-0 win in April last year.
“These are different circumstances [to Villa’s win against Arsenal last season]. This moment was a very special circumstance for them and for us because they were very involved in the Champions League against Bayern Munich and we were also in the Conference League.
“We competed very well at that point in 90 minutes and we won, but it was very difficult. This year, the circumstances are different. There aren’t many things similar to last year, it’s going to be different and we have to try to play, competing with the idea we have.
“We have to build the team the way we do and try to have confidence and good feelings. Individual players need to feel confident, and that’s the game we have tomorrow.
Villa injury news
Giving an update on Villa’s injury news, Emery said: “Pau Torres is out and unavailable, John McGinn is training on the pitch but not [ready for] tomorrow.
“Ross Barkley is still out. Diego Carlos in the medical report does not feel well and I think he will not be [involved] tomorrow.”
