Armando Broja’s injury against Aston Villa WORSENS Chelsea’s striker woes – FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED

John McGinn’s strike in the seventh minute was enough to hand Aston Villa a narrow 1-0 win against Chelsea in their mid-World Cup friendly in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

The contest gave Graham Potter and new Aston Villa boss Unai Emery the perfect opportunity to work on fresh tactics and systems ahead of the Premier League’s restart on December 26.

Youngsters Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson impressed for the Blues as Potter named a youthful side, while Emery opted for experience in a bid to build momentum with the first team.

John McGinn’s strike after just seven minutes was enough to give Aston Villa the 1-0 victory

However, the Al Nahyan Stadium fell silent but for screams of agony from Armando Broja midway through the first half, as the striker collided with Ezri Konsa and instantly hit the floor clutching his knee.

Broja was carried off on a stretcher by Chelsea’s medical staff, adding to Potter’s injury woes during the World Cup break.

Sportsmail has forged a list of five things we learned during the mid-season friendly in Abu Dhabi, as the Premier League sides gear up for the restart.

Chelsea set for a striker crisis

Having now scored just three goals in their last six matches across all competitions, Chelsea no doubt need to improve their attacking output.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling were brought in this summer to score goals in plentiful supply for the Blues, but unfortunately it hasn’t quite worked out for the forwards so far. 

Now, to make matters worse, second-choice striker Broja, who has earned two league starts and 10 appearances off the bench this campaign, is in for a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

While there is still hope for the striker, who is set to undergo a series of scans in pursuit of a diagnosis, it is feared he may have suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, based on his initial reaction on the pitch.

If an ACL tear is confirmed, Broja will likely miss the remainder of the season.

With Aubameyang’s deputy out and Kai Havertz yet to convince as an out-and-out striker, Potter will surely knock on Todd Boehly’s door ahead of the January transfer window in an effort to bring in a new forward.

Armando Broja had to be stretchered off following a collision with Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa

Emery breathes fresh life into his captain

The curse of the Aston Villa captain’s armband has seemingly continued this season, with new skipper McGinn struggling for performances under Steven Gerrard in the early stages of the campaign.

Having stripped Tyrone Mings of captaincy as a result of his poor displays, Gerrard entrusted McGinn to wear the responsibility and Emery has seen no reason to alter the leadership of his side.

Against Chelsea, McGinn finally seemed to be enjoying the role, marshalling the engine room with commitment and communication.

His own individual performance impressed as well. Not only did the midfielder show desire to support Ollie Watkins and find space to tuck home the winning goal, he also kept Chelsea’s midfielders very quiet with determined defending.

McGinn was impressive throughout as the Aston Villa captain marshalled the engine room 

Omari Hutchinson shines for Chelsea

He is by no means the finished article yet, but Hutchinson did plenty to impress his manager against Aston Villa on Sunday.

With direct and fearless running, the winger continually chopped inside to cause left-back Lucas Digne a handful of problems on the right flank and almost grabbed the equaliser with a sublime effort that rattled the woodwork.

His slaloming runs were easy on the eye and helped create space for the likes of Aubameyang and Broja replacement Dion Rankine in attack.

However, it seemed the match was moving too fast for Hutchinson at times, which caused him to miss playing the correct final pass.

If he can improve on his end product, Chelsea may well have yet another starlet on their hands. 

Omari Hutchinson signed from Arsenal in the summer and looked lively throughout the game

Potter has much to ponder

It’s hard to be too critical of Chelsea in a mid-season friendly without most of their first team players, but the Blues gave up several opportunities midway through the second half and could have conceded two or three more.

Were it not for smart saves from Marcus Bettinelli, both Leon Bailey and Danny Ings would have slotted home one-on-ones after breaching Chelsea’s defence with ease.

As is expected with Potter’s teams, Chelsea were cool and composed on the ball and nearly caught Villa out off the ball with their high pressing game, but there seemed to be lapses in concentration too often during the match.

For Chelsea to turn around their abysmal run of form heading into the World Cup break, which saw them five Premier League games without a win, Potter needs to work on the Blues’ defence shape and potency in attack.

Graham Potter has a lot to do to turn Chelsea’s disappointing pre-World Cup form around

Mid-season break is great for youngsters 

Although Aston Villa may not have utilised every youngster at Emery’s disposal, Potter was able to hand plenty of teenagers vital minutes with most of the squad involved in or recovering from the World Cup in Qatar.

The managers will have no doubt taken note of a few key performances, which they would certainly not have done before during the hectic and chaotic regular season.

Potter said to Chelsea’s website after the match: ‘We’ve had a fantastic week (despite the defeat). Fantastic to work with the boys that are here and the injury players have stepped their rehab on, which is good news.’

When asked  about Hutchinson’s performance, Potter said: ‘He looked really good, dangerous. Throughout the game he showed his quality.

‘But he’s not the only one. It was a spirited performance against an experienced Premier League side. We had a lot of young players, which was good.’ 

‘He looked really good, dangerous’: Potter was impressed with the performance of Hutchinson