Credit: Imago

James Barker

Sun 10 May 2026 17:40, UK

Aston Villa‘s central midfield experiment with Victor Lindelof perhaps needs a lot more work after his performance against Burnley.

Unai Emery kept Lindelof in his starting lineup for Villa’s trip to Turf Moor on Sunday, after he played 74 minutes in the Europa League semi-final victory over Nottingham Forest.

Having played the full 90 against Tottenham prior to that Forest clash, Emery moved the Swedish international out of central defence and into a central midfield role on Thursday night.

Lindelof stepped up to replace the injured Amadou Onana, and the 31-year-old was brilliant in that memorable Villa Park performance, looking totally comfortable in the middle of the park.

However, in Aston Villa’s draw to Burnley on Sunday, he wasn’t able to replicate that display by any means.

How did Victor Lindelof perform in Burnley vs Aston Villa?

Emery was criticised before kick-off against Forest over Lindelof, with many supporters and pundits alike sceptical over the decision to deploy the Swede in midfield.

He’s played as a defensive midfielder before during his Manchester United and Benfica days, but by trade, he’s a centre-back.

The experienced operator looked to have banished those sceptics for good with a brilliant display in the Europa League semi-final second leg, helping Emery’s side book their ticket to Istanbul for the final.

As such, there was no element of concern nor doubt that he would once again perform well operating alongside Youri Tielemans against Burnley on Sunday afternoon.

However, he wasn’t able to replicate his Forest heroics, and wasn’t able to leave any real impression on the game at Turf Moor, in which Villa were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw.

As per FotMob, Lindelof created zero chances against the Clarets, whilst also playing just two passes into the final third and being dispossessed once.

He also won zero tackles, ground duels or aerial duels, whilst making only one interception and playing zero accurate long balls with 41 touches of the ball respectively.

Lindelof did complete 87 per cent of his passes successfully, but most of those were relatively simple ones that didn’t really get Villa moving up the pitch.

Emery needs a natural central midfielder until Onana returns

With the aforementioned Onana not involved at all against Burnley after suffering a calf injury that’s now sidelined him for the last three games, it’s unclear just how much longer he will be out for.

If the Belgian international can’t go for Villa’s next game against Liverpool this coming Friday night, then Lindelof’s showing at Burnley should mean Emery reverts back to selecting a natural central midfielder as his replacement.

Indeed, he brought Douglas Luiz on with 10 minutes to go, and the Brazilian looked tidy in his brief cameo at Turf Moor.

He’s got to play over Lindelof in the middle of the park if Onana is sidelined once again for upcoming games, as the Swede has now proven to be unreliable in his performances in that position.