Unai Emery says Donyell Malen is available to make his Aston Villa debut against Arsenal.
Malen signed a £21m move to Villa Park earlier this week, and trained with his new team-mates this week.
The versatile Dutch striker, who can operate in all three positions behind the striker, provides Emery's men with an extra boost in attack as they continue to challenge in the Premier League and Champions League.
“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 10,” Emery said.
“In the attacking third, he is always close to entering the opponent's penalty area to score goals and provide assists. We will need a player like him who tries to threaten the opponent at the back.
Villa turning into a corner
Villa ended a run of five straight away defeats with a 1-0 win over Everton on Wednesday thanks to an Ollie Watkins goal at Goodison Park, while they also started the year with three successive wins.
Emery added: “We can feel some confidence after our win over Everton, but the challenge tomorrow is to be competitive. By competing, we can get closer to achieving a good result.
He added: “Arsenal tomorrow will be very difficult. Every match we face will be very difficult, at Everton as well.
“We are preparing for the match, we are very excited and we will try to play and improve the things we did at Everton and improve the things we did in the last matches against the top teams in the Premier League.
He added: “Tomorrow we will play with one of the favorites and favorites to win the English Premier League.”
Unai Emery: “We can feel some confidence after our win at Everton, but the challenge tomorrow is to try to compete again. By competing, we can be close to achieving a good result. pic.twitter.com/uwdGUgXMWv
– Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 17, 2025
Return of the Emirates
Emery returns to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday for the first time since the former Arsenal coach's side ended Arsenal's title hopes with a 2-0 win in April last year.
“These are different circumstances (to Villa’s win over Arsenal last season).” That 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 moment during the 90 minutes and won, but it was very difficult. This year the conditions are different. There are not many things like last year, it will be different and we have to try to play and compete with the idea that we have.”
“We have to build the team as we do and try to get confidence and good feelings. Individual players need to feel confident, and that is the game we face tomorrow.
Villa injury news
In his update on Villa's injury news, Emery said: “Pau Torres is out and unavailable. John McGinn is training on the field but is not (fit) for tomorrow.
“Ross Barkley is still out. Diego Carlos in the medical report is not in good condition and I think he will not participate tomorrow.
