The Holy Trinity: Aston Villa conclusions from win over BG Pathum United in Thailand
Injuries grabbed the headlines in straightforward 3-1 win for Villa
On a soaking pitch and after a long weather delay, Aston Villa made light work of Thailand’s BG Pathum United despite the physical attentions of their opponents.
Villa lost two players to injury. Captain John McGinn buckled under a foul and was withdrawn. Alejandro Garnacho looked incredibly rusty before getting his face smashed in.
Despite those setbacks, it was a positive friendly for Unai Emery. The Villa boss saw Victor Lindelöf revert to centre-back, showing his versatility and topping it with a goal, and must have enjoyed the insane work rate of midfielder João Gomes.
Villa’s new Brazilian signing even managed to do a bit in the final third. I’m not expecting to see loads of that against grown-up teams but he demonstrated late in the first half that he’s got quite a shot on him.
Here’s your Holy Trinity of match conclusions.
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1. Emi Buendía has a new route to goal
Just as they did against Indonesia All Stars, Villa opened Pathum up with an early goal and it was 2025/26 star man Emi Buendía who put the ball in the net.
It’s noteworthy that it was essentially the very same goal, and one that Little Emi wasn’t scoring on the regular last season.
Saturday’s opener followed neat combination play on the right with a sweeping Buendía into the bottom corner. Tuesday’s was similar, this time courtesy of connections between Alysson, Lamare Bogarde and Matty Cash.
All three played their part but the striking component, literally and figuratively, was Buendía. He was lurking, hanging around in front of the penalty spot for a cut-back knowing full well that he was going to get one.
In fact, he was in that sort of position a lot. Other players were doing the same in the second half, loitering for a pass from a wide player hitting the byline rather than a cross.
I’m filing that under ‘Things to keep an eye on.’
2. We have clues about Villa’s midfield depth
The sales of Youri Tielemans and Morgan Rogers have big implications for Villa’s midfield and general midfield area. There will be a very different look in Emery’s two and three this season and there’s a knock-on effect on the back-up corps too.
One of the most obvious developments in the recent friendlies is George Hemmings playing as the left-sided ten, a more advanced position than his previous outings for the first team.
The 19-year-old is making the most of his new role and showing that he can affect the game in attacking areas. We now have a big hint that his positional shift is the real deal.
Hemmings played there in the second half in Thailand with captain McGinn on the pitch and it was McGinn, who spent last season in the attacking line off striker Ollie Watkins, who played in the double pivot with Bogarde.
There’s no suggestion that McGinn will play anywhere but his right-sided ten spot this season but the way they were deployed against Pathum might indicate the order of things when it comes to Hemmings’ prospects for 2026/27 and where he stacks up against McGinn as central midfield depth.
3. Boubacar Kamara is back with a bang
After 208 days out, midfielder Boubacar Kamara played his first minutes since he was injured in Villa’s FA Cup win at Tottenham Hotspur.
Kamara came on for the last half an hour, replacing Bogarde and moving directly into the midfield two alongside the captain.
Bogarde was one of few Villa players whose involvement spanned the half time break and lasted well into the second half; Villa are clearly managing Kamara’s playing time very strategically and his return is a huge boost with plenty of pre-season left to go.
He scored with his second touch barely a minute after stepping onto the pitch.
Hemmings teed him up with a very smart touch to nudge a loose ball back to the edge of the box. Kamara coolly rolled it into the bottom corner first-time. Welcome back.
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