Aston Villa are set to face Bayern Munich without Harry Kane and Michael Olise in Friday’s pre-season friendly in Hong Kong.
The Bayern pair were involved in the World Cup third-place play-off and have been given extended time off, along with France defender Dayot Upamecano.
Sports Mole reports that all three are not expected to feature against Villa, while Vincent Kompany will again use the game to build fitness across the rest of his squad.
Bayern Munich missing key players against Aston Villa
Kane and Olise were two of Bayern’s most important attacking players last season, but neither is expected to be involved at Kai Tak Stadium.
Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry have also yet to return to the group, while Alphonso Davies and summer signing Ismael Saibari remained in Munich to continue their fitness work.
Kompany should still be able to field an experienced side. Joshua Kimmich, Luis Díaz, Jonathan Tah and Kim Min-jae are among the senior players available.
Villa have absences of their own.
John McGinn is a doubt after suffering a knee problem against BG Pathum United, while Ollie Watkins, Emiliano Martínez, Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne are not expected to feature after their World Cup involvement.
Boubacar Kamara could have a bigger role after returning from seven months out with a knee injury. ReadAstonVilla’s latest predicted XI has Kamara pushing to start alongside João Gomes after scoring on his comeback in Thailand.
Friday’s game is Villa’s final fixture of their Asian tour.
For Unai Emery, facing Bayern without several of their biggest names slightly changes the test, but it should still provide Villa with their strongest opposition before next week’s UEFA Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain.
