Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery has defended his decision to leave Harvey Elliott off the squad that faced Manchester City, Softfootball reports.
A Matty Cash first half rocket ensured Aston Villa defeated Manchester City 1-0 in the premier league match-day 9 played at Villa Park on Sunday night.
After the match, Unai Emery revealed during his post match interview that he values Elliot but had to leave him out for tactical reasons. Fabrizio Romano shared via his official X handle. He wrote:
Unai Emery on Harvey Elliott left out of Villa squad: I told him to keep going. We signed Harvey because I believe in him. I am happy with him, he’s training well. His commitment is fantastic, he’s a good guy. It was a tactical decision.
Elliot joined Aston Villa on transfer deadline day on loan from Liverpool. But he has struggled for game time with Villa and Emery dropping him against Manchester City when he is fully fit is not good news for the midfielder.
Elliot left Liverpool because he wanted more playing time as he was a fringe star at Anfield but his situation hasn’t changed with places for the 2026 World Cup reducing by the day, the England youngster is desperate for more game time.
As a result of the win, Aston Villa moved into eighth position on the Premier League table with 15 points while Manchester City sit fifth with 16 points.
