Aston Villa 2-1 Burnley: Malen bags brace as Villans stabilize after rocky start

Aston Villa head into the October international break riding back-to-back wins, their five-game winless run to start the season a distant memory, after Donyell Malen scored two goals to beat Burnley 2-1 at Villa Park on Sunday.

WATCH — Brentford vs Manchester City full match replay

Malen’s first (half-)season at Aston Villa was a bit of a struggle as he made 14 Premier League appearances (almost exclusively from the bench) and scored three times, but the 26-year-old Dutchman took both of his goals with superb confidence and pinpoint precision. Boubacar Kamara and Morgan Rogers played a pair of fantastic through balls and got the assists.

Even last season, when they finished 6th and missed out on the UEFA Champions League on goal difference, Aston Villa struggle mightily to find a secondary goalscorer to complement Ollie Watkins, who had 16. Rogers got eight goals from midfield and Jhon Duran, who left for Saudi Arabia in January, had seven. No other Villa player scored more than three in the PL.

What’s next?

• Burnley vs Leeds — Saturday, Oct. 18 (10 am ET)
• Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa — Sunday, Oct. 19 (9 am ET)

Aston Villa vs Burnley live updates - by Andy Edwards

Aston Villa vs Burnley final score: 2-1

Goalscorers: Donyell Malen (25', 63'), Lesley Ugochukwu (78')

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Burnley: Ugochukwu heads home a lifeline from a corner kick (78')

Ugochukwu's header gives Burnley hope v. Villa

Lesley Ugochukwu rises highest and heads Burnley on the board as they now trail Aston Villa 2-1 in the second half at Villa Park.

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-0 Burnley: Malen hammers another past Dubravka (63')

Malen's brace gives Villa 2-1 lead over Burnley

It's a 2-0 lead for Aston Villa as Donyell Malen nets his second goal of the match against Burnley, much to the approval of the Villa Park faithful.

GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Burnley: Kamara picks out Malen with a fantastic through ball (25')

Malen strikes Aston Villa 1-0 ahead of Burnley

Donyell Malen scores his first goal of the season to lift Aston Villa in front of Burnley in the first half at Villa Park.

Aston Villa starting lineup

Martinez - Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne - Kamara, Bogarde, Rogers - McGinn, Malen, Watkins

Burnley starting lineup

Dubravka - Walker, Tuanzebe, Laurent, Esteve, Hartman - Tchaouna, Cullen, Florentino, Anthony - Foster

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How to watch Aston Villa vs Burnley live, stream link and start time

Kick off time: 9am ET Sunday
Venue: Villa Park — Birmingham
TV Channel: Peacock
Streaming: Watch live on Peacock

Unai Emery’s side went winless in five games and without a single goal scored in their first four, but Ollie Watkins, John McGinn and Emi Buendia brought Villa Park back to life with a 3-1 victory over Fulham last weekend. With Europa League victories either side of that first league win, Aston Villa look like finally getting up to speed with Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana and Tyrone Mings all expected to return after the international break.

Burnley beat fellow PL new boys Sunderland back in Week 2 and picked up a point against fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest two weeks ago, but other than that the Clarets’ return to the top flight has been big defeats and lots of goals conceded to the league’s giants. Jaidon Anthony is one of four players with four or more goals this season.

Aston Villa team news, focus

OUT: Youri Tielemans (lower leg), Amadou Onana (hamstring), Tyrone Mings (foot), Ross Barkley (personal) | QUESTIONABLE: Emiliano Martinez (calf), Jadon Sancho (illness)

Burnley team news, focus

OUT: Zeki Amdouni (knee), Jordan Beyer (knee), Connor Roberts (knee)

Aston Villa vs Burnley prediction

We’re buying the Villa turnaround because, even when they looked their worst, they were still solid defensively and weren’t giving up a tons of chances. The rest will sort itself out with Harvey Elliott settling in and McGinn looking very Scott McTominay with all the goals. Aston Villa 2-1 Burnley.