Douglas Luiz Aston Villa
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Aston Villa have been one of the busiest teams in the transfer market this summer meaning Dean Smith has managed to add much-needed depth to his squad.

But despite the flurry of signings he could still be without some key first-team players when they face Watford this weekend in the Premier League season opener.

The first and obvious miss will be Leon Bailey who is yet to train with the first-team squad due to the mandatory isolation period.

Bailey is one of the brightest signings in recent times and he will be badly missed for this game, more so since Emi Buendia will also be an absentee.

Aston Villa spent £38million on Emi Buendia this summer but he picked up a hip injury during the pre-season and is yet to fully recover.

Ollie Watkins was last season’s top scorer for Villa but he suffered a thigh injury in a friendly against Salernitana at the weekend and is on the verge of missing out as well.

Generally, Watkins’ absence would have been a big setback but now that Aston Villa have signed Danny Ings, Dean Smith will not be too worried about the attacking areas.

With Ings in the side, the manager is likely to use Ollie Watkins out wide but Dean Smith has made it clear that he will not be used in a wider role.

 

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“Ollie hasn’t played wide for a couple of years,” said Smith, as quoted.

“I didn’t bring him in to play there. He scored 26 goals for Brentford as a centre-forward and came to us and got 16 goals also as a centre-forward. I don’t envisage him out there.”

If Watkins is not playing out wide and Danny Ings also starts then the Aston Villa manager could opt for a 4-4-2 formation.

Apart from these players, the names of Morgan Sanson, Bertrand Traore, Trezegue and Douglas Luiz are also on the injured list right now.

Read: Here’s how Aston Villa could line up against Watford.