UPDATED: Aston Villa beats Burnley with talented star performing at the top of his game.

Boubacar Kamara issued a reminder to Aston Villa and Premier League fans of just how good he can be with his exceptional midfield performance against Burnley.

The Frenchman partnered Douglas Luiz at the base of midfield and was excellent at Turf Moor as Unai Emery’s side continued their positive start to the season with a 3-1 win over Vincent Kompany’s men.

When the 23-year-old joined Villa from Marseille on a free transfer in 2022 he was tipped to be one of the brightest talents to come to the Premier League and while he was impressive in his first season on English soil, the way he started this season has been nothing short of superb.

In the 90 minutes he played on Sunday (27 August) Kamara barely put a foot wrong, completing an impressive 92% of his 59 attempted passes while also creating two chances for his teammates as Emery’s side consistently threatened the Burnley backline [FotMob].

What was special about the midfielder was the fact he managed to complete 11 balls into the final third and be accurate with two of his three long passes as he drove Villa up the field and towards the Claret’s defence on numerous occasions.

In defence Kamara didn’t let up, winning all three of his tackles, making nine ball recoveries and winning eight ground duels as he worked hard against the industrious midfield Kompany has put together at Turf Moor.

Facing up against the incredibly well-rated and expensive signing of Sander Berge, you would have been forgiven for assuming Kamara was the headline act as he barely let the Norwegian or any player lining up in a Burnley kit have a sniff of the ball.

While the headlines will be stolen by the impressive display of Matty Cash in a more advanced role, the French midfielder kept Villa ticking throughout the game and deserved just as many plaudits as any of his teammates.

Midfield set

The luxury at the disposal of Emery at the moment is the fact he has such a settled but complete midfield at Villa Park. The trio of Kamara, Douglas Luiz and John McGinn (although the Scotsman is playing further forward this year) complement each other incredibly well.

It is set to be a long season at Villa Park this year and it will be crucial that this midfield can be managed effectively to ensure they remain as fit as possible to be as involved as they can be for the remainder of the campaign both domestically and in Europe.

Signings such as Nicolo Zaniolo and Youri Tielemans mean there is now depth at Villa, and quality depth at that. The Conference League may provide the perfect opportunity for the likes of Kamara to have a well-earned rest during the midweek matches.

There are few managers you’d sooner have in charge of keeping this Villa team fresh and firing than Emery, who knows European football inside and out and will make sure his team keep fighting on all fronts this season.

Kamara went under the radar again, but he won’t mind that as he continues to boss his opponents.

In other Aston Villa news, Philippe Coutinho is in “advanced discussions” to leave Villa Park this summer