Aston Villa dealt huge blow as star midfielder suffers injury
Villa’s hopes of chasing down the Premier League's top-five have been dealt a huge blow after Youri Tielemans sustained an injury which could end his season.
The Belgium international midfielder is the only player to have started all 35 of the club’s top flight matches this term.
But his perfect record is now set to end after suffering a muscle injury which will keep him out for at least two weeks.
Tielemans will miss Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth and Villa’s final home match of the season, at home to Tottenham on Friday, May 16.
While it is hoped he could be back for the final match of the campaign, away at Manchester United, that is considered something of a long shot.
Tielemans, who joined Villa on a free transfer from Leicester in the summer of 2023, has been an integral part of Unai Emery’s team this year and is widely expected to sweep the boards at the club’s end of season awards.
His third Premier League goal of the campaign earned Villa a 1-0 win over Fulham last weekend which kept them in the race for a top-five finish and a return to the Champions League next season.
After the match, captain John McGinn described Tielemans as “our best player this season, by a mile”.
The loss of Tielemans will force boss Emery into a midfield reshuffle with Amadou Onana now poised to play a more prominent role over the final three matches.
Villa sit three points behind fifth-placed Chelsea in the table, with Emery having already acknowledged they will likely need to win all three of their remaining matches if they are to catch those above them.
Loan star Marcus Rashford will also be absent against Bournemouth as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury.
