Aston Villa XI vs Bournemouth: Watkins injury latest, predicted lineup, confirmed team news for Premier League
Aston Villa are sweating over the fitness of Ollie Watkins as they prepare to take on Bournemouth on Sunday.
The striker was absent for the win over Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League on Thursday due to a “small pain” picked up in training and was subsequently not risked, so is a doubt to face the Cherries
Elaborating on Friday, manager Unai Emery said: “He is going to be a doubt for Sunday, but we are adding other players like [Nico] Zaniolo, [Jhon] Duran and [Jacob] Ramsey getting more minutes.
“He is not completely unavailable for Sunday, we are going to wait until tomorrow and it depends if we can take a risk with him. Also, what is he feeling for 90 minutes.
“We are going to think about only the match on Sunday. At the moment it is 50/50 for Sunday.”
Should Watkins not be fit, Duran will be hoping to come in or either Jonathan Bailey or Ramsey in a more attacking role. Zaniolo could get a start in place of Matty Cash, who has been afforded a run in midfield of late with mixed results.
Boubacar Kamara will definitely be absent after picking up a fifth booking of the season, so Youri Tielemans or Leander Dendoncker will come in. Bertrand Traore, Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings are unavailable.