Unai Emery has seen a number of his Aston Villa players start the season well as the Villa Park club enter the international break with two wins from three in the Premier League.
£50 million summer signing Amadou Onana has been a revelation since joining from Everton to help fill the void left by the sale of Douglas Luiz to Juventus, scoring twice in three games.
Jhon Duran’s form off the bench has meant that Aston Villa fans do not need to be too concerned about the fact Ollie Watkins is yet to get off the mark, as Unai Emery has handed the Colombian increased responsibility.
Villa have come navigated a potentially difficult start to the new season with six points from a possible nine and should take confidence from going toe-to-toe with Arsenal despite ultimately losing 2-0.
The last game before the two-week break for international football saw Villa triumph 2-1 away at Leicester City and Villa record goalscorer Gabby Agbonlahor was left impressed by one player in particular.
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Gabby Agbonlahor names Aston Villa ace Youri Tielemans in Team of the Week
Onana and Duran once again stole the headlines for their goalscoring displays at the King Power Stadium, with the pair the only two players to score for Emery’s side this season.
However, Agbonlahor was keen to point out the contribution of Youri Tielemans in the win over Leicester.
Speaking on TalkSPORT’s Youtube channel, Abgonlahor named Tielemans in his Premier League Team of the Week, saying: “How Aston Villa got him on a free transfer, I mean, he has been outstanding since he has come to the club.
“What I love about Tielemans is that yes we have lost Douglas Luiz, we have lost that player who’s outstanding at setting up attacks and playing through-balls, but Tielemans is not far off.
“He has got that technique, he can find a pass, but also he has got that tenacity to chase back. He knows he has to do his hard yards to make tackles.
“I think he’s an all-round midfielder that can do everything. Tielemans has been outstanding this season.”
Tielemans thriving alongside Amadou Onana in Aston Villa midfield
Whilst Agbonlahor claims Tielemans has been “outstanding” since arriving at the club, it is worth remembering that it took the 27-year-old a fair while to get going at Villa Park.
With Boubacar Kamara and Douglas Luiz ahead of him – as well as John McGinn – it wasn’t until Kamara tore his ACL in February that Tielemans really became a regular.
The Belgian looks as though he has started the new season determined to cement his place in the side and the arrival of international team-mate Onana looks to have really brought out the best in the talented midfielder.
With Ross Barkley waiting in the wings and Kamara due back at some point in November, Tielemans will be keen to keep his pace and performances like the one against Leicester will do his chances of achieving that no harm.
