Aston Villa are poised to hand Taylor Harwood-Bellis his first appearance for the club when they travel to Coventry City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, as manager Unai Emery searches for defensive solutions following a bruising run of results.
The 24-year-old, signed for £30m from Southampton just over two weeks ago, has endured an unexpectedly tough introduction to life at Villa Park. He was omitted from the club's Champions League squad and has not featured in any competitive fixture since his arrival, leaving him waiting patiently for an opportunity to show what he can offer.
That chance now appears imminent. Villa's back line has been ravaged by injuries and suspensions in recent days, forcing Emery's hand. Pau Torres is expected to be sidelined for roughly three weeks with a hamstring issue, while left-back Ian Maatsen faces a lengthy spell out until November after picking up an ankle injury late in Saturday's defeat at Nottingham Forest. That setback left Villa playing with ten men, as Emery had already used all his substitutes when Maatsen went down, and Forest capitalized through a late winner from Igor Jesus.
The 2-1 loss to Forest was Villa's second alarming defensive display in as many away league matches, following a similarly leaky performance in the season-opening collapse at Brighton. Against Forest, Villa faced 22 shots and won just 35.3% of their tackles, with the hosts racking up an expected goals tally of 1.92. It followed 21 shots conceded in the Brighton defeat.
Adding to Villa's defensive concerns, right-back Matty Cash has been managing a muscle problem that ruled him out of both the midweek 3-2 Champions League victory at Club Brugge and the weekend defeat against his former club.
With so many options unavailable, Emery is expected to field a largely unfamiliar backline at the CBS Arena. Matteo Ruggeri is set to make his full debut at left-back, lining up alongside Harwood-Bellis, who joined Villa specifically to replace Ezri Konsa after the latter's £51m move to Arsenal. Victor Lindelof, who has started all six of Villa's matches this season including last month's Super Cup defeat to Paris St-Germain, is likely to be rested for the cup tie.
Harwood-Bellis was one of several fringe players left out of Villa's European squad, alongside young forward Brian Madjo and defender Modou Cisse. Emery explained that squad-size restrictions in domestic competition compared to European rules forced difficult decisions, pointing to a similar situation last season involving Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia. Malen eventually departed for Roma in January after growing frustrated with a lack of playing time.