Aston Villa have a problem! Kamara will miss the rest of the season

Aston Villa have made a great start to the new Premier League season. Its form has lasted almost until now. Unaie Emery’s charges are currently in 4th place in the Premier League , guaranteeing promotion to the Champions League. However, the problem may arise with the injury of Boubacar Kamara.

Aston Villa’s form

Ollie Watkins and co have not exactly got off on the right foot going into 2024. Out of 7 games in the new year, they won only 2. The very first one was in the FA Cup against second division Middlesbrough, with the game being decided in the 87th minute by Polish central defender Matty Cash.

This match was followed by 2 goalless draws, first a draw at Everton and then a home draw in the FA Cup against Chelsea. Even after this double match Aston Villa did not recover and a hard blow came in the form of a 1: 3 home defeat by Newcastle, who on the other hand are regaining their form in the new year.

A 5:0 win against a completely toothless Sheffield United lifted the Villans fans’ spirits for a while. A few days later, however, another blow came, this time from Chelsea in an FA Cup rematch, losing 1: 3. Meanwhile, in the last game Aston Villa played, they fell to a reborn Manchester United 1: 2.

Douglas Luiz equalised after an early goal from Rasmus Hojlund and with the game in hand, it looked like turning the score in the home team’s favour. However, in the last minutes of the game, Scott McTominay’s header, currently United’s top scorer for the season, shocked the stadium.

Injury to Boubacar Kamara

The French defensive midfielder joined Aston Villa as a free agent from Marseille in the summer of 2022. Immediately after his arrival, he slotted into Steven Gerrard’s then-still starting line-up. However, a knee injury came at the beginning of October which sidelined the Frenchman for a month.

In the rest of the season he was a regular in the starting line-up, except for April, when he had ankle problems, so he did not play in any matches. The bottom line is that Kamara played 26 games, namely 1 962 minutes and scored 4 assists, to which he did not add any goals apart from 4 yellow cards. He waited until 17 December 2023 to score his first goal in an Aston Villa jersey, against Brentford.

However, the French midfielder got injured in the last game against Manchester United through his own fault . He twisted his knee, will undergo surgery in the next few days and is expected to miss the rest of this club season and the EURO that follows in June. The biggest worry, however, will be for Emery.

Aston Villa have no replacement

Typically the same player as Boubacar Kamara, Unai Emery does not have the same player in his team. Of course, there is John McGinn or Douglas Luiz, but they have started alongside him. That leaves Emery with Youri Tielemans, who is more offensive, or Tim Iroegbunam in the centre of midfield, but he is yet to gain his first Premier League experience.

So, apart from the current form, the Spanish coach has to figure out who will replace the Frenchman in midfield. Will Douglas Luiz change his current role in the Villans game or will Youri Tielemans be given more defensive duties? We will find out the answer in Aston Villa’s next few games.

Source: 90mins, Premier League