Unai Emery will not be happy with what Aston Villa star Youri Tielemans has done
Youri Tielemans will not have impressed Unai Emery while on international duty with Belgium, as he makes his return to Aston Villa.
Tielemans captained Belgium on Monday 14 October but saw a penalty attempt sail over the crossbar during the first half of the 2-1 defeat against 10-man France.
The spot-kick aside, the midfielder was also guilty of losing possession on 13 occasions before being withdrawn with eight minutes to play [SofaScore].
Following the disappointing result in Brussels, Belgium now sit third in League A Group 2, with Italy and France having forced a significant gap.
Aston Villa star Youri Tielemans has night to forget for Belgium
Tielemans will be looking to etch the missed penalty from his mind as he returns to Bodymoor Heath in preparation for Aston Villa’s visit to Fulham on Saturday [19 October].
It was a difficult night in the middle of the park as not only did the 27-year-old sky from 12 yards and lose possession frequently, but he also only won two of his six ground duels and picked out a teammate with just two of his 11 attempted crosses – a paltry 18.2% [Sofascore].
The performance itself from Tielemans did have its plus points, having absorbed much of France’s attacking threat with eight defensive actions including five ball recoveries [Fotmob], looking to be the main transition outlet in the middle of the park.
This tends to work well when operating in Emery’s system at Villa Park, illustrated by FBRef statistics for tackles [2.58 per 90 minutes] and progressive passes [6.78 per 90 minutes] accumulated in the past year.
It shoulders a huge responsibility against the World Cup finalists even without the captain’s armband, so some slack will be cut for the Belgian, coming up against fellow Villan Lucas Digne who assisted Randal Kolo Muani’s second-half winner.
The duo will reunite as teammates shortly. Tielemans, who shone against Italy in the first international fixture of the break for his country, will aim for more consistency after an unconvincing display against Manchester United in the last Premier League outing.
In other Aston Villa news, Oliwier Zych has attracted attention in goal in the EFL Trophy.
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