Aston Villa blow as length of Amadou Onana injury lay-off revealed
Unai Emery has been dealt a fresh blow at Aston Villa as Amadou Onana is facing a spell on the sidelines, according to Sacha Tavolieri.
The Belgian journalist provided the update via X [16 November], reporting that Onana will be out for two to three weeks after sustaining an injury for Belgium in the 1-0 loss against Italy on Thursday [14 November].
Onana has been a pivotal figure for Aston Villa since his arrival from Everton and, with the side heading into the clash against Crystal Palace on the back of four consecutive defeats, the news could not have come at a more inconvenient time for Emery.
Amadou Onana will be a huge miss for Aston Villa
While Onana has yet to consistently show the form that earned him his big-money move to Aston Villa, he is undoubtedly a vital piece to the puzzle for Emery.
The 23-year-old started life at Villa Park like a house on fire, scoring two goals in his opening three Premier League outings and added to his tally in the side’s return to the Champions League in the 3-0 win against Young Boys.
His influence in the business end of the pitch has wavered, but his impact on the side has remained the same.
Indeed, his 90 per cent pass accuracy is in the top 20 percentile of all Premier League midfielders, while his 60 per cent tackle win ratio and 55 per cent duel completion rate is in the top 43 and 36 percentile respectively [Fotmob].
However, Onana struggled at the King Baudouin Stadium against Italy, winning only 33 per cent of his duels, making one tackle and one interception, losing possession six times and committing one error leading to a shot [Sofascore].
Onana went on to play the full 90 minutes in the UEFA Nations League clash, which begs the question of how Domenico Tedesco failed to notice he was carrying an injury.
Now, Aston Villa are forced to suffer due to the neglect of the national side – a point Emery has raised before – and the Villans boss will now be forced into a rethink without one of his regulars for a couple of games at least.
The only shining light for Villa is that Ross Barkley will surely be afforded more minutes in the coming weeks, and the side could benefit from a player who is playing “the best football of his career” at Villa Park.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans are leading the way to sign Oihan Sancet in light of a significant update.
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