The Holy Trinity: Aston Villa conclusions from Premier League defeat against Everton

Villa fell miles short of the standard required and squandered a chance to go ten points clear of fourth in the Premier League

First, a depleted Crystal Palace away. A draw. Teams at the top left the door open and nobody took advantage. Second, a depleted Everton. A defeat at home. Teams at the top left the door open and nobody took advantage.

Aston Villa aren’t good enough to harbour lofty expectations or make assumptions about where they sit in the Premier League food chain that’s apparently become Spurs Twitter’s way of dealing with obscurity, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that five more points were there to be won.

Villa have no more right than the rest of the top six to be invulnerable to dropping points but it’s not much fun when the other five do it first. The opportunity was there again. Villa turned it down again.

Villa have injury issues of their own – more to come on those – and the much criticised timing of the departure of Donyell Malen had more to do with circumstance than any avoidable short-sightedness on Villa’s part.

If you think letting Malen leave before bringing in a player to replace him was a deliberate act unwitting self-sabotage then I’m afraid we see the world quite differently.

Here’s your Holy Trinity of match conclusions: