Aston Villa were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Crystal Palace on Wednesday night but one player has now handed Unai Emery a selection headache.
Unai Emery made 10 changes to the side that drew against Bournemouth on Saturday, with John McGinn the only survivor.
Emery also showed how little he cares about the Carabao Cup by leaving multiple Aston Villa first-team stars out of the squad, most notably Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins, Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa while bringing youth players from the bench.
Lamare Bogarde, Jamaldeen Jimoh and Kadan Young were all introduced in the latter stages as Villa slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Palace.
While many stars didn’t cover themselves in glory, with Villa fans critical of Leon Bailey’s display, there was one player who performed unbelievably well on his return to the starting XI.
Boubacar Kamara was amazing against Crystal Palace
Villa supporters were delighted to see centre-back Tyrone Mings and defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara return to the side.
Mings was excellent on his first senior start in over 14 months while Kamara was arguably just as good, if not better than the Englishman.
The Frenchman was deployed alongside captain McGinn in midfield and the 24-year-old was back like he never left, setting the tone with his incredible ball-winning attributes and ability to sniff out danger.
| Boubacar Kamara stats vs Crystal Palace |
| 90 minutes |
| 84 touches |
| 87% pass completion (55/63) |
| 3 accurate long balls |
| 2 successful dribbles |
| 9 ground duels won |
| 5 tackles |
Kamara was described as ‘crucial’ by Birmingham Live for his colossal display, who handed him an 8/10 rating on his full return to the side.
He was a machine at winning possession back and pulled the strings alongside the Scotsman, with Emery now handed a selection headache as a result.
- READ MORE: Aston Villa star offers Unai Emery the light with a 7.23 rated performance against Crystal Palace
Unai Emery’s midfield options
Kamara was auditioning for a spot in the starting XI on Wednesday night, passing the test with flying colours.
For most of this season, Emery has preferred a midfield duo of Tielemans and Amadou Onana while often bringing Ross Barkley from the bench.
However, Kamara offers the Villans a unique option in the engine room, someone capable of screening the defence and primarily focused on his work off the ball.
Without him in the side, Aston Villa have often looked open in central areas, especially when Onana bombs forward and he resolves that problem.
Emery will perhaps start with his usual midfield duo of Onana and Tielemans against Tottenham on Sunday but Kamara’s performance has given the manager food for thought.
