Aston Villa and PSG’s Selection Headaches
Villa go into Salzburg as considerable outsiders for the UEFA Super Cup. Paris Saint-Germain are 4/5 favourites; Villa are out at 10/3. The odds also point to Unai Emery’s own record in this competition too. In three previous attempts as a manager, Emery has never won the Super Cup, and each time he was managing the Europa League side, the position Villa occupy now. History is not obviously on his side either: the European Cup/Champions League holders have won the trophy in 31 of the 51 finals played (60.78%).
It leaves Villa’s perfect record in European finals, built most notably in Rotterdam and Istanbul, looking like it’ll get a severe test, if they are to add to the 1982 Super Cup they won beating Barcelona 3-1 over two legs.
If there’s a superstition Villa can lean on, it might be the kit. They’ll wear their new third strip for the final, sky blue shirts with white shorts and white socks, the shirt was first seen in preseason against Bayern Munich: a change of stripe again, just as it was in Rotterdam and Istanbul (also a third kit).
Both teams had to send their playing attire choices to UEFA for approval before 6 July 2026, which was potentially part of the reason Villa decided to launch their third kit ahead of their black away shirt.
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Super Cup Team News
While Villa have some selection woes due to injuries and outgoing players in the transfer window, the team news could have been worse. Johan Manzambi’s injury will keep him out for at least the whole of preseason, but captain John McGinn is understood to be fit and likely set to lead the side out, fittingly a few days after the eighth anniversary of his move to Villa.
Villa’s registered Super Cup squad
Goalkeepers: Martínez, Bizot, Wright, Asemota
Defenders: Bogarde, Cash, Cisse, Konsa, Lindelof, Mings, Maatsen, Nedeljkovic, Torres
Midfielders: Barkley, João Gomes, Kamara, McGinn
Forwards: Abraham, Buendía, Garnacho, Guessand, Alysson, Watkins
Brian Madjo is expected to be added to that list now that his registration appeal has been confirmed; the squad above was submitted to UEFA before that ruling landed. The rules allow for it: List A squads had to be filed by 4 August 2026, but Villa can amend theirs right up to 23:59 CET the day before the match, provided the FA confirms in writing that any new addition is eligible to play at domestic level.
World Cup Returnees
The bigger question is whether Emery trusts three of his most important players to feature at all. Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Emiliano Martínez only return to training on Monday, three weeks after their World Cup commitments, with no preseason minutes alongside the rest of the squad behind them. Whether they can hit the ground running, or whether Emery simply leaves them out, may shape this game more than anything PSG do.
Luis Enrique has the same headache at PSG. Fabián Ruiz, part of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad, returns at a similar time. As will the five PSG players selected for the French World Cup squad: Ousmane Dembélé, Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Désiré Doué, and Lucas Hernández.
So for all the talk of odds and history, this might come down to something far less romantic: which of the two coaches is willing to risk his World Cup players before they’ve had more than a couple of days of proper preseason.
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