Aston Villa's hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League suffered a significant blow on Sunday as they lost 2-1 to Manchester United at Villa Park. Douglas Luiz had cancelled out Rasmus Hojlund's opener, but Scott McTominay came on to score the winner for the visitors late on.
Villa have now dropped to fifth after failing to respond to Tottenham's dramatic 2-1 victory over Brighton on Saturday. That may still be enough to make it into the Champions League, but United have closed the gap to five points with their second win against the Villans in the space of seven weeks.
In general, Unai Emery's side are stuttering at the moment – either side of a resounding 5-0 win over a seemingly doomed Sheffield United, they suffered home defeats to Newcastle in the Premier League and Chelsea in the FA Cup. They hadn't lost a league game in front of their own fans since February before this recent stretch.
Rank
Team
P
W
D
L
GD
PTS
1
Manchester City
6
6
0
0
11
18
2
Liverpool
7
5
1
1
11
16
3
Spurs
7
4
2
1
3
14
4
Arsenal
7
4
1
2
11
13
5
Man Utd
7
4
1
2
3
13
6
Aston Villa
7
2
2
2
2
8
And in another devastating blow, it emerged after Sunday's game that Boubacar Kamara, who came off in the second half, has suffered a "significant knee ligament injury". Kamara will see a specialist for a full prognosis, but a long-term lay-off seems inevitable.
Villa injury luck has become a "joke"
Quoting an earlier tweet about Villa's misfortune, Sky Sports presenter and Villa fan Dan Bardell said the situation had become a "joke" following the news of Kamara's injury.
Ball-winner Kamara joins Buendia and Mings
You can certainly see why Bardell is so frustrated. Kamara is actually the third Villa player to go down with a long-term knee problem this season after Emiliano Buendia and Tyrone Mings, neither of whom have played since the opening day of the Premier League season.
Kamara's absence in particular will sting because he's been a crucial player for Emery this season. While he's been suspended for four matches (once for an accumulation of yellow cards and once for a straight red against Brentford), he's started every single game for which he's been available.
Emery could now drop £70k-p/w Aston Villa star after Man Utd defeat
There were a couple of Villa players who failed to shine against Man Utd
ByRoss Kilvington
The 2022 acqusition from Marseille has been a vital ball-winning presence at the base of the midfield, winning more tackles (2.2) per game and notching more interceptions per game (1.1) than anybody else in the squad. It remains to be seen who replaces him in the side, but Youri Tielemans looks the most likely candidate.
