Wilfried Gnonto already sweating as injury news emerges ahead of Aston Villa vs Leeds United
Willy Gnonto is likely to be given a rare start against Aston Villa after the news of Noah Okafor’s new injury blow at Leeds United.
The lightning-quick winger has played just 349 minutes of Premier League football this season, notching just one goal and two assists across all competitions.
Gnonto has had very little to do with Leeds’ impressive turnaround under Daniel Farke, but he could have an opportunity to prove himself at Villa Park on Saturday, 21 February.
Okafor could miss as many as five games for the Whites after sustaining a hamstring injury during their FA Cup win over Birmingham City last weekend, opening up a rare spot in the lineup.
While Farke has several attacking options to choose from, a fresh and fit Gnonto could be deadly against the Villans.
Wilfried Gnonto could be given rare chance vs Aston Villa
The 22-year-old winger has only faced Villa twice in his career, losing on both occasions, so he will be determined to break the cycle when travelling down to the West Midlands this weekend.
Unai Emery’s side are fresh off their FA Cup defeat to Newcastle United, in which Marco Bizot was sent off, but they remain in the Premier League title race with 12 games left.
And the Villans have been handed a boost ahead of the game, with Matty Cash coming back from injury after missing back-to-back games against Brighton and the Magpies.
Emery confirmed that the first-choice right-back will return, having come through two training sessions unscathed, and that is only bad news for Farke and his travelling players.
Matty Cash could completely mark Gnonto out of the game
In the reverse fixture, Cash was key to keeping the Whites quiet and, especially, Okafor, while also causing problems at the other end of the field as well.
In 90 minutes, the Poland international created two chances, fired off one shot, completed 100 per cent of his dribbles, made three tackles, three recoveries and one interception, as well as entering into 11 ground duels [FotMob].
To put it bluntly, Gnonto is completely out of practice, lacking minutes, and likely to be totally silenced by the fit-again full-back.
He has been known to come up with special moments, especially in the Championship, but in the Premier League, he is up against much harder opposition. And he certainly knows it.
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