Aston Villa have suffered four defeats on the bounce in all competitions.
It’s not a pretty sight for Unai Emery, especially given that his team are now a Champions League side and they simply aren’t performing like one.
There was an interesting build-up to Aston Villa’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool because many were wondering if Youri Tielemans would start.
The simple reason is that Tielemans has been left out of Belgium’s upcoming internationals, despite captaining his nation last time out and being a crucial player.
That sparked an injury worry amongst Aston Villa fans, but not only did Tielemans start at Anfield, but he also played the full 90 minutes.
Belgium have two UEFA Nation League fixtures to deal with, including a home clash against table-toppers Italy – Domenico Tedesco’s side are sitting third, five points behind second-placed France.
Youri Tielemans isn’t the only high-profile star missing for Belgium
What’s interesting is that Kevin de Bruyne, who has missed recent Belgium games because of injury, is also absent from the squad.
This is despite coming off the bench during Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday, yet his club teammate, Jeremy Doku, who didn’t feature because of injury, has been selected.
But Amadou Onana has been selected, as posted by Belgium’s Instagram account, so make of that what you will.
What Tielemans posted on Instagram after Villa’s defeat to Liverpool
Tielemans has probably been Villa’s best player this season and he doesn’t deserve to be in such a situation where the team can’t stop losing of late.
But the fact that he won’t be going on international duty will be music to the ears of the fans and a much-needed rest for the player.
He is starting week in and week out, for club and country, so he was right to post on Instagram that it is time to ‘reset’ because he is crucial to the team picking up wins again.
Villa need to get out of their mess and this break has come at the right time for everyone.
“Tough results lately,” wrote Tielemans. “Reset, work hard, keep moving forward 💪🏽
“Support has been amazing as always.”
