Axel Tuanzebe is a fan favourite at Aston Villa after his three seperate loan spells at the club
Axel Tuanzebe will come up against Aston Villa on Sunday (Image: Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
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Aston Villa favourite Axel Tuanzebe will come up against Unai Emery’s side this weekend at Portman Road.
The Ipswich Town defender was given a new lease of life under Kieran McKenna last year and has played a role in the club’s success under the former Manchester United coach.
He cemented himself in the starting XI from February onwards earlier this year after joining the club last summer and helped the Tractor Boys to automatic promotion to the Premier League.
He has started all five of Ipswich’s Premier League games so far this campaign and will likely continue that run against Villa on Sunday (2pm kick-off). He had made 28 top-flight appearances before returning to the Premier League this season, with nine of them coming at Villa in 2021/22.
After staying at United for the first half of the 2022/23 season, he left on loan for Stoke City for the remainder of the campaign before leaving Old Trafford for Ipswich on a free transfer last summer.
“I think every player wants to get to the top of their craft and being given the opportunity to do so again, for me, has been very pleasing,” Tuanzebe said on Town TV earlier this month. “It is something I have been working for for a long time. Achieving something like this is always a player’s dream. Now we look forward to what can be coming.
“I think it is different being in a newly-promoted team because in the times that I was in the Premier League before, you were towards the top or one of the stronger teams on paper.
“Being with Ipswich now, I think a lot of teams will come against us and collect all three points, so that makes it very difficult because players are relaxed knowing what they can deliver. It’s good for us because it keeps us on our toes and is good for experience.
“It’s a major step up from the football that we have been used to, but we’ll come out better for it at the end of the season.”
Ipswich host Villa without a win so far this season, but they are unbeaten in their last three after draws with Fulham, Brighton and Southampton. They opened the campaign with defeats to Liverpool and Manchester City.
Tuanzebe said Ipswich “don’t fear” the top teams but they do have “lessons to learn” after losing 2-0 to Liverpool on the opening weekend.
“You have seen a glimpse of what Ipswich are capable of,” Tuanzebe told BBC Radio Suffolk. “Chances don’t come often and you can see Liverpool took their chances. We can only learn from that and capitalise when it is our turn.
“We respect them [top teams] but we don’t fear them. This was a game when we could take the gloves off and go for it. If you lose, people just think: ‘Oh well, it was against a big team.’ But, for us, it takes us a step forward and tests our levels to see where we are at compared with the top teams.
