A superb brace from Morgan Rogers (£7.1m) secured three points for Aston Villa on Sunday, but an injury to Bruno Fernandes (£9.4m) overshadowed all other events at Villa Park.

Continuing the Gameweek 17 Scout Notes, it’s Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United.

BRUNO INJURY: WHAT AMORIM SAID

Bruno pulled up feeling his hamstring in the 40th minute at Villa Park.

The Portuguese lasted until half-time but was replaced at the break by Lisandro Martinez (£4.8m).

Shortly after, he was spotted hobbling to the bench across the touchline.

In an interview with Sky Sports, Ruben Amorim said:

“I think it’s soft tissue so it’s going to be a while. We’ll see.” – Ruben Amorim on Bruno Fernandes

Amorim later indicated that Bruno will miss “some games” in his post-match presser.

“I don’t know, I think he is going to lose some games, but I don’t know for sure.

“I don’t want to talk about the matter, but this is a guy who is always fit and he has shown he can always recover.” – Ruben Amorim on Bruno Fernandes

And it sounds like Kobbie Mainoo (£4.6m) is out of Gameweek 18, after he missed Sunday’s defeat due to a calf injury.

“I will see what we are going to do. I think Kobbie Mainoo is out [against Newcastle]. Bruno is out. So, we’ll see and we’re going to find solutions.” – Ruben Amorim

The official United site suggested that we’ll get a further update from Amorim before the Boxing Day/Gameweek 18 deadline.

But Fantasy managers aren’t hanging around: Bruno is already the second-most sold player of Gameweek 18, with over 171,000 sales.

CUNHA’S SHOTS

Matheus Cunha (£7.9m) was once again United’s most dangerous player on Sunday.

The Brazilian took his goal well, pouncing on a mistake by Matty Cash (£4.9m), and really should have added a second when he headed wide from close range.

Cunha racked up another six shots at Villa Park.

He’s now had 22 goal attempts in the last three Gameweeks alone, at least nine more than any other player:

Above: Players sorted by shots (Tot) in Gameweeks 15-17

The question is now: will Cunha be impacted by Bruno’s likely absence, particularly with United already shorn of attacking quality due to the exits of Bryan Mbeumo (£8.2m) and Amad Diallo (£6.3m) to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)?

The loss of Bruno would undoubtedly be significant; however, United played with more of a three-man midfield at Villa Park, strengthening the centre of the pitch, and even after the Portuguese departed, they still created chances.

Moreover, they’ll have Casemiro (£5.5m) back from suspension on Boxing Day, and with Mason Mount (£5.9m) and Benjamin Sesko (£7.2m) joining Cunha in the attack, they should have enough quality, particularly against Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 19.

Cunha could perhaps find himself on penalties, too.

“I think we were the better team today. We were unlucky, even with the injury of Bruno, but, during the game, even without him, we were the better team.” – Ruben Amorim

ROGERS FULL OF CONFIDENCE

Villa weren’t great on Sunday, but they again got the job done, thanks largely to Rogers.

The England international is in electric form right now and scored a brace for the second straight match, with the standout moment a beautiful curling effort into the top right corner.

He’s undoubtedly upped his threat for Villa in recent weeks, too.

Rogers recorded seven shots in the win over United, including four inside the box, marking his highest tallies in a match this season.

In fact, his seven shots on Sunday represent the most he has ever taken in a Premier League game.

Above: Morgan Rogers’ shot map in Gameweeks 1-11 (left) and Gameweeks 12-17 (right)

As for Villa, only Tottenham Hotspur have outperformed their expected goals (xG) by a higher margin this season, but there is a buzz at the club right now, and they will head into the upcoming clashes against Chelsea and Arsenal with optimism and confidence.

Emiliano Martinez (£5.1m), meanwhile, returned in goal on Sunday after a back injury.

And Evann Guessand (£6.2m) was a surprise inclusion on the bench, after he was drafted into the Ivory Coast squad for AFCON on Friday.

Having been permitted to link up with his international teammates at a later date, he’ll now depart for the tournament in Morocco.