Surgery needed: Journalist drops even more Villa injury news after Digne on 'unselfish' regular

Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz will need surgery after suffering a nasty face injury against West Ham on Sunday, Birmingham Live’s Richard Cusack reports.

Luiz, labelled as ‘unselfish’ by former Villa defender Alan Hutton for his work off the ball, has been a regular under Steven Gerrard, missing just one Premier League game since he took over in November.

The 23-year-old once again started in midfield at the London Stadium but couldn’t prevent Villa’s three-match winning run from coming to an end against David Moyes’ side.

The Brazilian took a boot to the face but carried on in the 2-1 defeat, with left-back Lucas Digne also going off in the early stages with a hamstring injury.

Cusack shared a story on Monday evening, looking at Villa’s injury list ahead of the meeting with Arsenal this weekend.

When it came to Luiz, the Birmingham Live reporter claimed the midfielder will need expert help and relayed comments from Gerrard, who said:

“He has a nasty gash in the mouth and will need surgery there.”

Even though Luiz requires surgery, you’d like to think he still has a chance of featuring against Arsenal on Saturday, given it is hopefully not a procedure with a lengthy recovery timescale.

Gerrard will more than likely be hoping he can call upon the defensive midfielder once again, with Cusack unsure when it comes to a return date.

We will learn more later in the week in Gerrard’s pre-match press conference, but this news isn’t exactly ideal, especially with Marvelous Nakamba still sidelined.

In other news: ‘Not strong enough’ – Ashley Preece slams Villa man who completed just seven passes vs West Ham. 

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