Unai Emery has midfield headache again despite 'monstrous' Amadou Onana Belgium review

Amadou Onana has provided Aston Villa boss Unai Emery with another major headache.

The towering midfielder was injured early in Belgium's 4-1 World Cup rout of co-hosts United States in Seattle on Monday.

Onana went down hurt after an innocuous challenge with Christian Pulisic when duelling for the ball in midfield.

The 24-year-old immediately called for medical attention and was clutching at his right leg after the incident.

Initially, it looked as though Onana would continue, but he was brought off, which meant a deeper role for Villa team-mate Youri Tielemans.

It does provide somewhat of a dilemma now for Villa boss Emery, who will have been watching the injury incident unfold with his head in his hands.

Amadou Onana impresses before Belgium injury

It was another disappointment for Onana, who missed several chunks of time through injury last season.

The former Everton man contended with hamstring and knee issues, in a campaign where midfield was often a problem area for Emery.

The biggest disappointment is that Onana had started the game well, and the Belgian media was impressed by how he performed before going off injured.

VoetbalNieuws score Onana a 7/10 and said he was having a "monstrous match" and described his injury as a "mortal sin".

NieuwsBlad went with a more conservative 6/10, but agreed he was "doing well" until the untimely injury.

Will Emery have to find an Onana solution at Aston Villa?

Onana and his Belgium team-mates were particularly fired up against United States, given the furore over the decision to suspend a one-match ban for Folarin Balogun.

Indeed, Onana had made some excellent contributions early in the game before his untimely injury.

Onana had already completed two tackles for his team, to win the ball back and keep the pressure on Mauricio Pochettino's side.

Additionally, he had recorded two recoveries, again proving crucial in Belgium's plan to put the pressure back on their opponents.

Moreover, he was typically excellent in the duels, winning his two ground duels, and his one aerial duel, and his tenacity was proving imperative to how Belgium wanted to play.

Onana was looking good on the ball two, with 12 of his 13 passes recorded as accurate (92 per cent).

Five of the six he attempted in the opposition half found a team-mate (83 per cent), and all seven he tried in his own half met a Belgium team-mate.

Emery now faces a nervy wait to find out the extent of the injury, and if it turns out to be serious it could even require a dip into the transfer market to cover for him.

It is the last thing he would have wanted to see, another midfield issue and the problems his engine room suffered in the 2025/26 campaign.