Significant Injury Blow for Aston Villa Prior to Decisive Chelsea Encounter

Aston Villa will face Chelsea in the FA Cup replay without defender Ezri Konsa, announced Manager Unai Emery. The 26-year-old suffered a knee injury during Villa's 5-0 triumph against Sheffield United over the weekend. The Standard reports that a knee sprain will sideline Konsa for roughly three to four weeks.

Konsa's absence is a harsh setback for Villa as he has consistently performed this season, appearing in 33 games and clocking up 2823 minutes of playtime. Along with Konsa, Aston Villa will also miss Tyrone Mings and Lucas Digne in the upcoming match with Chelsea.

Nevertheless, some good news does peek through the adversity. Pau Torres is set to return from injury and will be included in the squad for the Chelsea game. Despite these recent injury blows, Aston Villa continues to be the favoured team to overcome Chelsea and propel towards the next round of the cup. However, losing players to injury undeniably puts a damper on their prospects.