Losing someone of the quality of Youri Tielemans is difficult. Aston Villa has two strongly capable players to fill the holding midfielder role in Amadou Onana and Boubacar Kamara.
These are two players who have played a significant role this season anyway. Heading into the final stretch of the Premier League campaign, while chasing a Champions League spot, it was always going to be something of a challenge to win the needed games without the Belgian ironman in the lineup.
Many matchday selections see Unai Emery criticized for who is left out and otherwise. Part of the club bringing in multiple players at the same position and having depth is for such occasions. Injuries happen. The Villa boss has countered this by giving a consistent run of play for multiple players.
In a rotation that gives substitutes a longer run of play than most and that can often see a steady rotation, it affords AVFC an opportunity to have athletes ready to step up as needed and better positioned compared to other clubs.
Against Tottenham, the DM duo of Onana and Kamara bossed the game. In a turnaround from what Villa saw against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium, the hosts at Villa Park controlled possession and had the lion's share of quality goal-scoring chances.
There were moments when Son Heung-min looked dangerous and Emiliano Martínez was forced to make a big save. By and large, however, Onana and Kamara did what was needed and allowed the likes of Marco Asensio to have the liberty to go forward and break down the Spurs backline.
Overall contributions in Aston Villa's 2-0 victory
Fittingly, it was Kamara who then found his left-footed strike hit the back of the net in the second half. In a game that nearly looked like it would be a case of a team controlling phases of the match without anything to show for it, it was good to see someone who ensured the control get directly rewarded for his toiling efforts.
Onana also had a couple of key interventions that could have resulted in a one-on-one with Martínez. His work rate protected the Villa keeper and played a huge role in preserving the clean sheet.
Losing Tielemans is not ideal by any stretch. Emery having someone like Onana and Kamara to rely on to fill in the void is a luxury every other side wishes they could be able to match as well.