The international break came at the right time for Aston Villa, although Unai Emery will be cursing his luck at an important point of the season.
Injuries are always a risk when many stars jet off to play for their respective countries and several Aston Villa players have fallen foul of the hectic fixture schedule.
Amadou Onana suffered an injury on national duty with Belgium and will now be out for two to three weeks while Ian Maatsen, Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa were all sent home with minor problems.
Unai Emery will hope to have most of his players back fit for the clash against Crystal Palace after receiving good news this week.
Superstar Morgan Rogers signed a new six-year contract at Aston Villa on Tuesday, just days after making his first-team England debut.
Rogers will want to continue his fine form this term when they host the Eagles on Saturday, with the officials now being named for the clash.
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Alex Chilowicz named on VAR duty for Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace
Tim Robinson is the referee for this clash while Alex Chilowicz is on VAR duty this weekend and he isn’t a name that will be familiar to many.
Chilowicz relocated from the United States to England at the end of last year after building up a wealth of experience in the MLS.
Spanning six years, he officiated 237 games in America’s top-flight league while he also acted as the Video Assistant Referee for the MLS All-Star fixture in 2018 and fourth official in the MLS Cup final in 2020.
The American-born referee has predominantly officiated matches in the lower tiers of the Football League however, he’s recently been drafted into the Premier League spotlight and in control of VAR.
Interestingly, Chilowicz has only been on VAR once for an Aston Villa fixture – the 2-1 win over Leicester City in August – with this weekend’s game being his second time.
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Chilowicz compared to experienced referee Michael Oliver
Chilowicz has only recently started officiating in the Premier League but while he was praised by Rotherham boss Steve Evans, he was also compared to Michael Oliver, one of the division’s most experienced referees.
“When I saw him in the lower leagues, I said he’ll end up in the Premier League and [Chilowicz] will,” Evans said via The Comet.
“His communication to both the Cambridge bench and our bench was where you’d expect it to be if it was from the likes of Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver.
“The top referees communicate to you, they talk to you, and they don’t talk to you like you’re 10 years old, they talk to you like a man.”
Evans comparison to Oliver may worry Aston Villa fans, as he wrongfully sent off Douglas Luiz in the defeat to Fulham in 2022.
He’s also got numerous high-profile errors wrong for other teams, including the decision to keep Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic on the pitch despite his reckless challenge on Arsenal’s Declan Rice in October 2023.
Villa will be hoping that Chilowicz turns out to be a better official than Oliver, although this weekend he will continue his role of VAR.
