![\"Unai](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Unai-Emery-Manager-of-Aston-Villa.jpg\")
Unai Emery, manager of Aston Villa<\/p>\nNewcastle United head to Villa Park this weekend for their first game of the 2025-26 seasonUnai Emery, manager of Aston Villa<\/p>\n
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery will hand a debut to 34-year-old goalkeeper Marco Bizot against Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United<\/a> this weekend. The former Brest shot-stopper is set to be thrown in at the deep end against the Magpies on the opening day of the Premier League season.<\/p>\n Usual Villa keeper Emi Martinez is suspended for the game, having been sent off on the last day of last season in a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Ironically, that result ensured Newcastle would play Champions League football this season, as they sealed fifth place in the Premier League despite a final-day defeat to Everton.<\/p>\n Martinez will only miss one game after the red card, and will be available for their trip to Brentford next weekend, but his absence means a likely debut for summer signing Bizot.<\/p>\n The veteran keeper is highly experienced, having made 477 appearances in a lengthy career that has included spells at AS Alkmaar, Gent and French side Brest.<\/p>\n Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package<\/p>\n This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more<\/a> \u00a343<\/p>\n \u00a335<\/p>\n Sky<\/p>\n Get Sky Sports here<\/a><\/p>\n Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports<\/a> bundle for the 2025\/26 season, saving members \u00a3192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.<\/p>\n Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.<\/p>\n However, it will be a cause for concern for Emery, who could also hand a debut to another summer signing, Evann Guessand.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old striker moved to Villa Park in a \u00a330.5m move from Nice over the summer and is set to make his Villa Park bow against United on Saturday lunchtime.<\/p>\n Morgan Rogers has shaken off an injury picked up in a pre-season game against Roma to be included in the squad, but Ross Barkley and Andres Garcia are ruled out.<\/p>\n Speaking in his pre-match media briefing, Emery said: “Tomorrow Emi Martinez is suspended, Garcia is injured and Barkley is not fit.”<\/p>\n It looked as though Martinez would leave Villa earlier this summer, with the Midlands side set to find a long-term replacement for the World Cup winner, but the 32-year-old opted to stay, with Bizot signed as a back-up option following Robin Olsen’s departure.<\/p>\n While much of the focus has been on Alexander Isak’s <\/a>involvement, or lack of it, Newcastle will head to Birmingham with a strong squad.<\/p>\n Joe Willock<\/a> is ruled out with a groin injury, with the former Arsenal midfielder expected to be out until September after picking up the problem in pre-season.<\/p>\n However, with Lewis Hall and Sven Botman close to full match fitness after featuring in the summer schedule, and new signings Anthony Elanga, Aaron Ramsdale and Malick Thiaw<\/a> available, Howe has plenty of options apart from away from a central striker role.<\/p>\n Anthony Gordon will again be asked to lead the attack, with Harvey Barnes<\/a> and Jacob Murphy competing with Elanga for a starting spot in the wide roles.<\/p>\n The new Premier League season is here and it’s set to be another big one for Newcastle United. Eddie Howe’s men face a Champions League challenge as well as domestic competitions – and you can get live updates every step of the way.<\/p>\n It’s quick and easy to join. Just click this link and select ‘Join Community’ to get started.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Plus you can follow our new Newcastle United channel<\/a> right here – just follow this link<\/a><\/p>\n Your informational will be hidden, you’ll only ever receive messages from the Chronicle Live sports team, and you can leave any time you like. For more information, click here<\/a>. You can read our Privacy Notice here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newcastle United head to Villa Park this weekend for their first game of the 2025-26 seasonUnai Emery, manager…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":148846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[87654,3900,221,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-148845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-aston-villa-fc","9":"tag-newcastle-united-fc","10":"tag-soccer","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115034952122247656","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Content](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755293956_672_0_Sky-Factbox.jpg\")
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