Aston Villa have ground to make up in the race for Champions League football, and their task has gotten more difficult after reports of a key injury blow to arguably their most influential player.
The Athletic reported on Thursday that midfielder Youri Tielemans is set to miss the final three games of the season with a muscle injury.
There is a chance the Belgium international could feature in the season finale against Manchester United on May 25, but that is considered an unlikely prospect.
Villa sit seventh in the Premier League with three games remaining, three points behind fourth-placed Newcastle United and fifth-placed Chelsea, with the top five teams set to qualify for the Champions League this season.
Unai Emery’s men face a tricky trip to Bournemouth on Saturday, and the loss of Tielemans could be a telling blow for Villa considering his influence on their season.
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Creator-in-chief
Tielemans has served as Villa’s main creative force in 2024-25. Though his tally of seven assists in the Premier League this season is one fewer than that of Morgan Rogers, no player in Emery’s team has done more to progress the play.
Indeed, Tielemans has played 59 key passes (a pass resulting in a shot), tied for the seventh-most in the league.
No midfielder in the top flight has played more passes into the final third than Tielemans’ 228, while the former Monaco and Leicester City man is fifth in the division with 234 progressive passes (Completed passes that move the ball towards the opponent’s goal line at least 10 yards from its furthest point in the last six passes, or any completed pass into the penalty area, excluding passes from the defending 40% of the pitch).
Tielemans has also excelled at winning the ball back. He has racked up 57 tackles that have resulted in his team regaining possession, only six players have managed more.
An excessive workload
Yet, for as crucial as Tielemans has proven, his injury may be the result of an over reliance on his services.
Tielemans and Ollie Watkins are the only Villa players to feature in all 35 Premier League games this season. With Villa reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the quarter-finals, Tielemans has racked up 52 appearances in 2024-25.
That level of playing time has clearly taken its toll and, with Tielemans now on the sideline, Villa could feel the pain of missing out on a second successive season at Europe’s top table.
