Aston Villa

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Unai Emery could feel the "squad depth is not there" for Aston Villa after they lost captain John McGinn to injury and fell to a 1-0 defeat by Everton, says former midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger.

Villa had the opportunity to jump above second-placed Manchester City and close the gap on leaders Arsenal to just four points when they welcomed the Toffees to Villa Park on Sunday.

But an early knee injury for McGinn after 18 minutes set the tone for a difficult day for Emery's side, who were already missing fellow midfielders Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley.

"That was tough seeing John McGinn walking off the pitch so early on," Hitzlsperger told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.

"Overall, Unai Emery was so frustrated. The team were playing well. They had enough chances to win the game, but you have to say credit to David Moyes and his team because they knew exactly how to stop Villa. They knew how to frustrate them. They worked so hard and didn't allow Villa to go through the middle.

"Emery was extremely frustrated and I think he hinted that the squad depth is not there.

"Even though he doesn't want to admit they are still in the title race, part of him probably thinks, 'yes, this is three points wasted'."

How concerning is the injury to McGinn? Will this force Villa's hand now in this window and what areas should they prioritise?

Get in touch with your views here

Listen back on BBC Sounds from 1:54:45

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Aston Villa and Everton.

Here are some of your comments:

Villa fans

Alan: The writing was on the wall as soon as John McGinn left the pitch. All the drive went out of the midfield and Villa's squad is now stretched to the limit with a difficult few weeks coming. The season will be defined in that period and we need reinforcements badly.

Rob: A rare bad day at the office. Our passing was messy, our wide players were slow and Emi Martinez had a nightmare. If we hadn't let go of Donyel Malen he would have had a field day with Everton. I really hope we bring in someone that can replace his qualities soon so performances like this don't become a regular occurrence.

David: The loss of McGinn on top of injuries to Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley, plus Jadon Sancho being ill, was too much for our stretched midfield and squad. It's a shame because after our usual slow start we were dominating through McGinn. Subsequent defensive errors and lack of firepower up front sealed our fate.

Trevor: Lacklustre performance, chances missed and Ollie Watkins not given any real service. We made Everton look good. We must show some energy for future matches.

Everton fans

Paul: Fantastic performance. Harrison Armstrong, merlin Rohl and James Garner looked immense. Nathan Patterson is playing well and Jake O'Brien is so solid at the back with James Tarkowski. Hopefully, with players coming back, our home performances can improve. We are inconsistent, which is to be expected with a small squad and lower quality in some positions. Hopefully we can finish some transfer business in the next couple of weeks.

Greg: A really good all-round performance, which we seem to reserve for away games. If we could turn the home form around we could yet sneak into Europe, especially with three or four key players on their way back. O'Brien has to be kept in his natural position because he's a much better player there.

Jack: Really good team effort. I thought Garner was superb and a quality finish from Thierno Barry, who is improving with more game time. Can we please have a similar performance at home next week?

Wayne: Great win on the road. We're missing Iliman Ndiaye Idrissa Gueye - can't wait to have them back. However, the lads battled a very good Villa side. I'm made up for Barry - he's growing in confidence with every game.

Pundits Joe Hart and Ellen White join host Kelly Cates to bring you the action and talking points from Sunday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Wolves 0-0 Newcastle

• Aston Villa 0-1 Everton

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking to BBC Match of the Day about their 1-0 defeat by Everton: "We created chances, we didn't score. They had fewer chances than us and scored. They competed fantastically. It's the Premier League.

"We are not a contender to be in the top four like we are now. They have very good players and are strong tactically. They deserved to win. We must analyse the match and keep going."

On John McGinn's injury: "Pity for us but we must accept that players can get injured."

On preparing for Europa League: "Tomorrow rest and on Tuesday we come back in."

On transfer market: "Keep working and thinking how we can improve."

Did you know?

• Aston Villa had 18 shots in this match, their most without scoring in a Premier League game since October 2022 v Chelsea (also 18).

• Morgan Rogers had six of those shots, the most by a Villa player without a goal in the competition since Leon Bailey v Brighton in December 2024 (seven).

Listen to Emery on BBC Sounds

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa went into this meeting with Everton on a high and with their sights set on closing the gap on Premier League pace-setters Arsenal to four points.

Instead, they were left with no complaints about a defeat in which Everton showed the greater desire as Emery's side showed none of the qualities that have pushed them towards the top of the table.

Villa may have been unsettled by the early injury to McGinn, but this was a lacklustre performance that lacked drive and urgency.

Rogers threatened on occasions, while Evann Guessand hit the woodwork, but even the normally atmospheric Villa Park seemed resigned to defeat before the end.

And keeper Martinez must take the blame for his flamboyant attempt to make a routine save, pushing the ball out to Barry, who accepted the gift with style.

Emery cut an increasingly agitated figure on the sidelines as his side ran out of ideas in the face of Everton's resilience and threat on the break.

Villa are still in an outstanding position, but this was a rare painful day of disappointment for the manager and his players.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Aston Villa's performance

What did you make of Everton's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Image source, BBC Sport

Ollie Watkins starts up front for Aston Villa after Donyell Malen's move to Roma, while Emi Martinez is back in goal for Marco Bizot, who played in the FA Cup win at Tottenham Hotspur.

Youri Tielemans also starts with Boubacar Kamara out after picking up an injury early on at Spurs.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Jonsa, McGinn, Tielemans, Buendia, Watkins, Pau, Maatsen, Bogarde, Rogers

Subs: Bizot, Wright, Lindelof, Mings, Digne, Garcia, Guessand, Hemmings

Jack Grealish returns for Everton at former club Aston Villa after serving a one-match suspension following his sending off for dissent against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He comes in for Tyler Dibling, while Thierno Barry is preferred to Beto as striker in the only other change from the team that went out on penalties to Sunderland in the FA Cup third round.

Everton XI: Pickford, Patterson, Tarkowski, McNeil, Barry, O'Brien, Mykolenko, Grealish, Rohl, Garner, Armstrong

Subs: Travers, King, Beto, Dibling, Coleman, Aznou, Welch, Campbell

Image source, BBC Sport

There are two games in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Wolves v Newcastle (14:00) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Aston Villa v Everton (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times GMT

Follow Wolves v Newcastle here

And go here for Aston Villa v Everton

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Wolves v Newcastle" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Aston Villa v Everton".

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

It must be such a wonderful time to be an Aston Villa fan - they have been on an incredible run and their one defeat in their past 15 games, at Arsenal at the end of the year, has not affected their confidence.

Villa drew 0-0 at Everton at the start of the season but their form has picked up a lot since then - they have stacks of belief and they have lots of goals in them too.

Everton will have Jack Grealish back from suspension to face his old club, which is a boost for them and him.

David Moyes certainly won't make it easy for Villa but I'm still expecting them to win.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say

Matt Jones
BBC Sport journalist

Aston Villa will look to keep their Premier League title aspirations alive on Sunday at Villa Park when they welcome an Everton team that has lost momentum in 2026.

Villa are six points back on league leaders Arsenal and, after a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace last time out in the top flight, they earned a 2-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup.

Everton finished 2025 in eighth and with optimism. However, a wretched week of home games – defeats by Brentford and Sunderland (in the FA Cup) sandwiched a draw with bottom club Wolves – has led to simmering frustrations at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Attacking duo integral to Villa

When these two teams met at Everton in September, Villa looked listless in attack in a 0-0 draw. In the months following, they've been revitalised. Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia have been key to that change.

After a slow start, Rogers has been one of the best attacking players in the division this term. He leads Villa for goals and assists, with eight and six respectively in all competitions.

The England international is yet to score against Everton in three attempts. But for Buendia, the Toffees are among his favourite opposition; the midfielder has a career-best three goals against them in the Premier League.

Buendia's return to form and fitness this season has been vital to Unai Emery's side. His 10 goal involvements – including the dramatic late winner over Arsenal – already match his best total for a season since moving to Villa Park.

The duo have showcased their individual brilliance as part of a well-oiled machine. Villa have been canny throughout the season no matter what the situation, gaining the most points from losing positions and dropping the fewest from winning positions.

Can Grealish inspire Everton?

After three poor results in seven days at Hill Dickinson Stadium, Everton may not mind getting out on the road.

Under David Moyes, the team won nine away matches in 2025. Only Villa, Arsenal and Crystal Palace registered more.

Villa have not been a good match-up for Everton since their return to the top flight in 2019 though. The Toffees have not won any of the past 13 meetings in the Premier League.

Emery and his team are formidable at Villa Park too. Villa have won 23 and drawn four of their last 28 matches there; it's the best home record of any team in Europe since the beginning of last year.

Moyes will be looking to former Villa captain Jack Grealish for inspiration, as he'll be without Iliman Ndiaye and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Grealish, who joined the Villa academy as a six-year-old and made 213 appearances for the club, is available again after a suspension. He is yet to score in any of his five appearances against his boyhood club for Manchester City and Everton. He has been booked in his last three games against them though.

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Aston Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara's knee injury could be worse than first feared.

Boss Unai Emery has confirmed the 26-year-old is seeing doctors to discover the extent of the problem.

Kamara was forced off early in the FA Cup third round win at Tottenham on Saturday after a challenge with Joao Palhinha. Villa were hoping he would initially be out for three weeks.

"Kamara is out, it is his knee," said Emery before Sunday's visit of Everton. "We are checking him and he is visiting some doctors and we are going to know about him in a few days.

"Of course he's not available and maybe for a long time, hopefully not so so long time but we are checking him."

Kamara previously missed eight months in 2024 after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) against Manchester United.

He joined on a free transfer from Marseille in 2022 with Villa beating Atletico Madrid to his signature.

The problem adds to Villa's midfield issues with Amadou Onana also struggling with a hamstring injury and out of the game with the Toffees.

Villa wanted to bring Conor Gallagher in but lost out to Tottenham, who signed the England international for £35m from Atletico Madrid earlier this week.

They have also sold forward Donyell Malen to Roma on loan with an obligation for the Serie A club to buy him for around £21m.

Villa have been linked with Roma forward and former loanee Tammy Abraham - who is on loan at Besiktas in Turkey - and Emery confirmed he is in the market for a striker.

He said: "The priority is someone as a central attacking player, a striker, with the characteristics as a striker and to compete with [Ollie] Watkins or maybe even play with him.

"Now Malen has left another player can help us with numbers in the squad."

Melissa Edwards
BBC Sport journalist

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Everton at Villa Park (kick-off 16:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Unai Emery has confirmed Boubacar Kamara is unavailable due to a knee injury and the club will know more in a couple of days.

• Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley and Emiliano Martinez are "pressing well" for their returns. However, Onana and Barkley are ruled out for Everton while Martinez will be assessed on Saturday.

• January signing Alysson is in a "little bit of pain" and won't be ready for Sunday.

• Emery on the January transfer window: "I want to speak more about Everton on Sunday. The transfer window is important but not a 'now objective'. We are working it, we did something of course as [Donyell] Malen left and we are trying as well to do some deals but the most important is the players we have."

• On allowing Malen to leave: "It's a tough decision but it makes sense. There are three parts involved in the decision - firstly the player, he was helping us, scoring goals, not being consistent in the starting 11 but for me he was very important and he knew it. I spoke with him a lot. Second part is about the player, he was happy but not enough like he wanted. He opened his door to listen in case something can give him something better than us and the last part is the club and for the club it's a good deal. For me I preferred him to stay here but I accept it. It's a good deal for the club and it's a good deal for him."

• Villa could set a club record 12 consecutive home wins should they beat Everton but Emery says his team aim for three points at a time, and only focus on this consistency in order to compete for the "top positions in the Premier League."

• Emery said he has created "something special" with supporters since he joined the club three years ago and his team "need Villa Park" on Sunday.

• On Everton: "They are performing very well away and competing fantastically. They have two players involved in the Africa Cup of Nations and some players maybe out injured or suspended but I think they are competing fantastically. A team always difficult [to play]. We focus on this match after 10 days of not playing in the Premier League, we remind ourselves of the importance of this competition and it is the priority for us. Everton is the next step forward."

Hear more from Emery on BBC Sounds

Listen to commentary of Aston Villa v Everton at 16:30 on Sunday on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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We asked for your views on Donyell Malen joining Roma and whether it was unexpected given his contributions to Aston Villa this season.

Here are some of your comments:

Mike: He may have struggled for game time, but unless this move signals an incoming upgrade it might come back to bite us.

Chris: Disappointed but not surprised by Malen's departure. He wants more minutes to strengthen his bid for a World Cup place and Emery is not going to give that to him. The fee does not seem that high given his performances. However, I do not believe for a second that Unai Emery does not have a plan here. Someone is going to replace Malen and it has to be an upgrade.

Paul: He is a great player that wants more game time. You cannot blame him for that. He does not want to play second fiddle to Ollie Watkins.

Barry: Disappointed. He is a very good player, a goalscorer and someone who I felt could challenge Ollie Watkins for a starting berth. We are now leaving ourselves short with our striking options. I am assuming Emery must have someone else in mind?

Cassie: Surprised by Malen signing for Roma. Hopefully Villa have a player or two which they hope to sign, because if not they will be in trouble with a reduced squad. Tammy Abraham is an average player, but is he our only option?

Martin: I like Malen and he would be staying if it was not for PSR. The problem we have got is we are vulnerable from set pieces when Amadou Onana or Tyrone Mings are not playing. In the Championship, Abraham was a giant defending set pieces for us. If Tammy arrives, it is very shrewd business.

Andrew: Utterly perplexing considering his excellent goals and assists return when given very limited game time by Emery. A high quality player and an excellent professional, so most Villa fans are sorry to see him go. The club may well come to regret this strategic decision, unless an outstanding replacement is on his way before the end of the transfer window.

Image source, Getty Images

Donyell Malen has joined Roma from Aston Villa after just one year with the Premier League side.

The 26-year-old forward, who signed from Borussia Dortmund in January 2025, has scored seven goals for Villa this season but has struggled for regular playing time.

While Villa say the deal is for an undisclosed fee, a Roma statement says it is a loan with an option to buy.

What do you make of Malen's departure? Is it a shock given his goalscoring contributions this season, or did you always expect him to be moved on in this window?

Get in touch with your views here

Aston Villa want to seal a permanent deal for England striker Tammy Abraham, who is currently on loan at Besiktas from Roma. The 28-year-old spent 2018-19 on loan at Villa and helped them earn promotion to the Premier League. (Times - subscription required), external

Villa could move for Real Madrid and Spain midfielder Dani Ceballos, 29, after missing out on signing Conor Gallagher. (Talksport), external

Sheffield United have registered their interest in England midfielder Ross Barkley, 32, who is struggling for regular game time at Aston Villa. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

With more than half of the season gone, we have enough stats to get a good idea of how well Premier League teams have been playing and therefore how things will likely unfold in the months ahead.

Expected goals tells us how well teams do the basics of football by creating lots of good chances up front and limiting their opponents to few, difficult ones at the back.

With the figures based on how Premier League teams have performed in the past, history shows that the higher a team's xG difference - the more they dominate games - the more chance they have of success.

If we compare teams' xG difference with the points they have taken this season, we can clearly see in the chart below that the majority of sides' results align closely with their general performance.

But there are three teams who have so far defied their xG numbers, in either a good way, or a bad way: Aston Villa, Sunderland and Wolves.

Aston Villa and Sunderland have almost certainly achieved their season objectives already, with Opta giving Villa a 96% chance of Champions League football and the Black Cats a 99% chance of survival.

This is not about whether the two sides "deserve" to be where they are in the table. The fact that they have scored and kept out the goals they have means they have earned those positions, thanks in part to Villa's elite long-range finishing and Sunderland keeper Robin Roefs being the best shot-stopper in the league.

But what it does show is that this season's success is built on shaky ground and there is still work to be done if Villa wish to establish themselves at the top of the Premier League long-term and Sunderland are to avoid suffering second-season syndrome next season.

Villa fans will rightly point out that their team has regularly overperformed their xG under Unai Emery, while Sunderland fans will claim that you cannot measure tenacity and togetherness.

At the other end, while Wolves have been playing like a team worthy of relegation, they have been far better than the tally of two points they had until recently, so it is no real surprise their results have begun to improve.

Expected goals is not perfect and there are aspects of football that can never be captured on a spreadsheet, but history shows that it has a great track record for predicting a team's long-term success.

What else does xG predict for the rest of the Premier League season?

Roma will pay a £2m loan fee for Aston Villa forward Donyell Malen, 26, with the deal including a £25m clause to sign the Netherlands international on a permanent basis. (Fabrizio Romano, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport