Unai Emery hails underrated Aston Villa star and offers rare team news hint for PSG showdown
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery offers one of his players some special praise before the clash at PSG.
Unai Emery has heaped praise on right-back Matty Cash and has hinted he will start for Aston Villa in the Champions League quarter-final first leg away at Paris Saint-Germain.
Villa are in action tonight for one of their most important fixtures this century as they seek to maintain a competitive aggregate scoreline ahead of next Tuesday’s return leg at Villa Park. It certainly won’t be easy to accomplish a positive result as PSG are currently the odds-on favourites to win the entire competition after knocking out Liverpool, but Emery will be quietly confident his team can achieve the unexpected.
Cash, who has played six times in the Champions League so far this season, has been in and out of the team lately due to troubles with recurring injuries. The Poland international wasn’t used in the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest for that reason, but Emery has issued a rare team news hint to suggest he’ll be named in the XI to take on PSG.
"He is very important for us, Matty Cash. He is in Aston Villa for a long time,” Emery told the media on Tuesday night.
“The last match he didn't play because I decided for another player. And because as well, when we are playing out of matches in a row, he is sometimes at risk to get injured.
"He was getting injured before sometimes playing matches in a row. But I am very happy with him, and he has the potential to exploit more even than he did here.
“And we are demanding with him, he is also a very good professional, and he wants to improve, and he wants to do everything we are working. And hopefully he can play tomorrow, the first leg, second leg, in case he is playing his best football."
Underrated, perhaps, or at least an unsung hero for the most part, Cash very rarely grabs the headlines but he steadily goes about his business and has played a key role in Villa’s rise. The 25-yard stunner in the 87th minute to take Lille to extra time in the Europa Conference League last season comes to mind, while his performances on the way to securing Champions League qualification were superb.
Villa set to name full-strength XI vs PSG
If Cash does indeed start at the Parc des Princes, he will likely line up alongside Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne in defence. There may be calls for Ian Maatsen to start at left-back following his excellent showing against Forest but Digne is the more experienced head, is stronger defensively, and is of course a former PSG player.
In midfield, defensive enforcer Boubacar Kamara is expected to line up alongside the technically gifted Youri Tielemans in a double pivot. Morgan Rogers could be fielded on the right flank if Marco Asensio occupies the number 10 role against his parent club, while captain John McGinn will be knocking on the door for a start to do the dirty work.
On the left flank, it’s a straight shoot-out between Jacob Ramsey and Marcus Rashford as both are capable of drifting inside and causing problems for PSG right-back Achraf Hakimi on their day. Then, up top, Ollie Watkins is expected to start.