Tammy Abraham scored twice as Aston Villa put their Premier League woes to one side with a 3-1 win over out-of-form Coventry City in the EFL Cup.

Villa have managed to score only one goal and pick up just one point from their opening four Premier League matches.

Indeed, the only team with a worse record than Unai Emery's team in the top flight this term are Coventry, whose miserable run continued.

Abraham, who turned down a loan move to Everton late in the transfer window, opened the scoring in the seventh minute at Coventry Building Society Arena, slotting into the bottom-right corner after latching onto George Hemmings' cute pass.

Yet Coventry were level through a moment of magic in the 27th minute, as Victor Torp – a star of their promotion-winning campaign last season – curled in a sensational free-kick.

Villa, though, went back ahead before half-time, with Ibrahim Mbaye, on his full debut, sending an inswinging corner onto the head of Ross Barkley, who duly nodded home.

Barkley turned provider as Abraham doubled up just shy of the hour, with the midfielder managing to get a flick to a low corner, and Villa's forward was on hand to tuck in from point-blank range and wrap up their progress into round four.

Villa get their goals

Villa's scoring problems at least do not seem to be carrying over into the cup competitions.

Emery's team, who face an even more goal-shy Tottenham on Saturday, scored three times in the Champions League last week, and they repeated the trick here to pile more misery on Frank Lampard.

It actually marks the first time Villa have scored three goals in an EFL Cup game since they beat Bolton Wanderers 4-1 back in August 2022.

And Abraham continued his remarkable record in away games in the competition.

He has scored six goals in seven away appearances in the EFL Cup, despite starting just three of those matches.

Abraham converted two out of his three shots, which in total came from chances worth 1.24 expected goals. Villa's overall xG came in at 2.69, and Coventry's 0.67 shows opportunities were at a premium for the hosts.

Barkley had an excellent game at the heart of Villa's midfield, but Mbaye shone on his full bow, creating a team-leading four chances (level with John McGinn).