Unai Emery surely left in painful distress at Aston Villa as Douglas Luiz now ruled out v Brentford

Aston Villa defeated Arsenal to continue their amazing comeback, but following a Douglas Luiz play, Unai Emery might not be able to disguise his frustration.

After John McGinn’s first-half goal put Villa Park ahead of Mikel Arteta’s Gunners on Saturday, December 9, the team moved to within two points of the top spot in the Premier League.

Villa held on to support their emphatic triumph against champions Manchester City on Wednesday, recording a club-record 15th consecutive home league victory in spite of Arsenal’s siege.

According to BBC Sport, Aston Villa has only collected more points after 16 games of a top-flight season in 1980–81, the season they last won the championship. There is a genuine belief that they can place in the top four.

It is a clear indication of the incredible development the team is making under the Spaniard, and if their current incredible play keeps up, the Villans are now undoubtedly an outsider to win the Premier League.

However, ahead of their next league against Brentford, Emery may not be able to hide his concern with midfield maestro Luiz now ruled out of next weekend’s critical fixture in West London, as reported by Injury Expert Ben Dinnery (11 December).

The Brazilian midfielder picked up his fifth booking of the campaign against Arsenal and will now sit out of Sunday’s contest against Thomas Frank’s Bees – an absence which may prove absolutely costly given Luiz’s importance.

The Villans face off against Zrinjski Mostar in the Europa Conference League on Thursday (14 December) for which Luiz may now start however, he will be sorely missed next weekend.

Luiz, who is likely a target for any of the coveted “top six,” has been in incredible form this season. In just 23 games, he has scored six goals and provided four assists, propelling his team to third place in the Premier League standings and one step closer to the Europa Conference League knockout stages.

The Villans are impressively only two points behind league leaders Liverpool, even though the Brazilian has started all 16 of their Premier League games this season.

He is also clearly looking to be more involved offensively during this campaign after registering 1.5 shots per game compared to the 0.9 he averaged last year, with his goal conversion rate rising from 18 per cent to 25 per cent

The former Manchester City man has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.52 in the opening few months of the season – the best average rating of any Villa player, having taken 75.8 touches per outing as he looks to get on the ball and make things happen.

He has completed 1.2 crucial passes, produced three excellent opportunities, and has an 89 percent pass success rate. He also doesn’t give too much away in potentially harmful locations, as evidenced by his remarkable 93 percent total from balls played in his own half.

Even though Emery uses him deep in midfield, he still makes a significant offensive contribution. He stands out as one of the most complete all-rounders in his position, ranking in the 90th percentile of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues for goal-creating actions and the 81st percentile for shot-creating actions.

Against Arsenal on Saturday, Luiz was at his influential best again, completing 100% of his long balls, recording one key pass, won four of his ground duels, won three tackles, and registered three clearances

With Villans having won only three of their eight away games, Luiz’s absence will be severely felt in midfield. Now, Villa will lose that significant influence against a strong and determined opponent in Brentford, who very rarely give much away on home turf.

Even Emery, who has become an expert at covering up minor flaws in his team to record improbable wins, would not be able to contain his fear of a major midfield fracture occurring at the Gtech Community Stadium.

READ MORE ON SPORTUPDATES.CO.UK