Aston Villa struggled with the hangover of the Champions League win over Bayern Munich as they played out a 0-0 draw against Manchester United on Sunday.
Unai Emery has overseen a fine start to the campaign for Aston Villa but there was a real lack of quality from both sides as Villa and Manchester United played out a 0-0 draw at Villa Park.
In the end, Villa will be happy enough to take a point but will be concerned by the fact Ezri Konsa was forced off through injury after just 12 minutes.
Fortunately, there is now an international break in which the centre-back can recover with his withdrawal from the England squad now very likely.
If you cannot score a goal then the key is not to concede and Villa’s defenders deserve credit for a solid performance in which the likes of Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Jaden Philogene were unable to break the deadlock.
- READ MORE: Aston Villa player ratings vs Man Utd, Youri Tielemans stands out as two players get 4/10
The point keeps Villa in fifth going into the second international break of the season and here are three things we learned from the 0-0 draw with United.
Amadou Onana is vital for Aston Villa
Emery has kept a relatively settled side in the Premier League this season but was forced into a couple of changes against United.
Leon Bailey came in for Jacob Ramsey after the 23-year-old picked up and injury but of greater significance was the fact Ross Barkley replaced the injured Amadou Onana in the starting XI.
Onana has been a revelation since his arrival in the summer and perhaps nothing has highlighted how important he is to this Villa side more than his absence from the side on Sunday.
Onana is a huge presence at the heart of the midfield and he and Youri Tielemans have gone from strength to strength as a partnership, but there was a real drop off in the Villa engine room in his absence against United.
Barkley is a very different player to Onana but also failed to take his opportunity on Sunday so Villa fans will help the Belgian is back fit for the trip to Fulham after the international break.
Leon Bailey desperately needs an Aston Villa goal
Bailey came off the bench against Bayern before being substituted himself in the second-half.
The Jamaican winger looks to be playing through the pain for Villa this season which is something he did towards the backend of the last campaign and this is having a negative impact on his performances.
Bailey was again something of a passenger against United and offered little threat from the right, with his best chance coming at the back post where he inexplicably decided to try and control with his weaker foot instead of head goalwards.
Bailey is yet to score this season and looks a player very low on confidence. With Moussa Diaby leaving in the summer, Villa need Bailey to step up with goals and assists and perhaps once he gets off the mark we will see a different player.
Aston Villa may regret not making more summer signings
Konsa was finally able to move back to his favoured central defensive position with Matty Cash returning against United but it lasted just 12 minutes before he went off with a hamstring issue.
This has highlighted a real problem for Emery as Konsa was the seventh player to get injured for Villa after just ten games of the season.
- READ MORE: Big Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara update drops as Aston Villa duo near first-team return
With the absence of Ramsey and Onana, as well as Bailey not being fully fit, Emery looks a little light on options and could be ruing the fact Villa did not add one or two more players this summer.
Villa look particularly light at right-back, centre-back and on the flanks and not addressing this in the summer could come back to bite Emery in a very labour-intensive season.
