BBC Sport pundit cannot believe Leander Dendoncker in Aston Villa loss v Manchester United

We're delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he'll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…

Alan Hutton has questioned the defending he saw from Leander Dendoncker as Aston Villa fell to a 3-2 loss at Manchester United.

The Villans held a two-goal lead at half-time in Tuesday's (26 December) Premier League contest at Old Trafford.

However, Alejandro Garnacho struck twice and Rasmus Hojlund completed the turnaround late on to halt Villa's momentum.

Dendoncker had helped put Villa 2-0 up earlier in the match after John McGinn had opened the scoring, but he was partly to blame for the second of Garnacho's goals.

The Belgium international fell to the ground and turned his back to the ball as Garnacho pulled the trigger and found the back of the net.

Reflecting on a disappointing result, Hutton told Villa News: "For the second goal, Dendoncker tries to block it but he turns his back. If he sees the ball and tries to block it, he can block it.

"The second half is where it all went wrong. The first half they did very well, got themselves in front, and then any Premier League team should not be losing from 2-0 up.

"I know they're away from home, at Manchester United, I understand that. But you have to be more clever.

"In the second half, they were so open and became sloppy and ragged as they gave the ball away.

"There were massive holes all over the pitch, and Old Trafford is a big park so you can't be doing that.

"Once they got the first one, it got United's tails up and they went again. Mistakes also then started to creep in for Villa."

Villa, who are third in the Premier League despite the defeat, return to action at home to Burnley on Saturday (30 December).

In other Aston Villa news, an 88-per-cent ace is pushing for a recall to the side against Burnley this weekend.