The worldwide break seems to be to be coming at the absolute best time for Aston Villa, who succumbed to a fourth straight defeat in all competitions away at Liverpool this Saturday.
It wasn’t fairly the pasting they had been handed on their travels to Tottenham Hotspur, with Arne Slot’s Reds having to dig deep to beat Unai Emery’s males 2-0, but it surely was nonetheless a defeat on the finish of the day that leaves the low on confidence Villans in eighth spot within the Premier League, which is a worrying ten factors behind table-topping Liverpool.
There have been numerous completely different Villa underperformers that didn’t step up to speed underneath the extraordinary lights of Anfield, as Emery makes an attempt to get extra out of his staff on the coaching floor between now and their subsequent Premier League conflict, understanding {that a} break may very well be what his staff wishes.
Important Villa underperformers at Anfield
Earlier than he can get to work on this division, nonetheless, the stinging defeat versus Liverpool will likely be firmly on his thoughts, with the likes of Diego Carlos struggling on the again all through to include the hosts’ firepower up high.
The Villa defence had been all at sea for Liverpool’s opening breakaway objective, which noticed Darwin Nunez fireplace dwelling after Mohamed Salah rampaged ahead, however the game-deciding second strike from the Egyptian on the demise noticed the Brazilian centre-back inexplicably head it off the electrical quantity 11, who then ran by means of unchallenged to confidently seal the win.
Away from the defenders having a shaky night time, the attackers had been additionally below-par, with Morgan Rogers giving possession away a costly 21 times throughout the course of the sport.
Ollie Watkins additionally fired extra blanks for the away staff, because the often potent 28-year-old’s barren patch in entrance of objective now stretches to five games in all competitions, with the previous Exeter Metropolis wonderkid solely managing six correct passes away from lacking a single huge likelihood.
However, though Rogers and Watkins underwhelmed, they’ve shone for his or her staff this season away from this match in isolation.
Whereas, throughout the marketing campaign so far, Leon Bailey retains mustering up weak performances and his outing at Liverpool sadly adopted that development.
Bailey’s efficiency in numbers
It may very well be argued that Bailey was fortunate to not obtain a reserving within the build-up to Nunez’s opener, having hauled down Salah viciously earlier than the Uruguayan obtained the higher of Martinez.
Away from that contentious second, the Jamaica worldwide barely obtained into the competition, with solely 23 touches of the ball coming his manner. Even the aforementioned Martinez managed greater than that, with the busy Villa shot-stopper registering a heftier 36.
|
Bailey’s efficiency in numbers |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Bailey |
|
Minutes performed |
65 |
|
Targets scored |
0 |
|
Assists |
0 |
|
Touches |
23 |
|
Correct passes |
11/15 (73%) |
|
Key passes |
0 |
|
Correct crosses |
0/1 |
|
Pictures |
1 |
|
Duels received |
1/4 |
|
Stats by Sofascore |
|
There are extra numbers, when wanting on the desk above, that additional display how passive Bailey was in opposition to Slot’s hosts, with solely 11 correct passes coming his manner from a scarcity of touches, alongside solely managing one shot your complete sport earlier than being substituted simply after the hour mark.
Fortunately for Bailey, his substitute in Jaden Philogene-Bidace didn’t additionally flicker into life – because the ex-Hull Metropolis winger only managed eight touches himself – however Emery will likely be trying to find higher options down the correct flank away from the previous Bayer Leverkusen attacker in the course of the break to come back.
After firing dwelling ten goals and picking up nine assists final season within the high flight, it is onerous to not ponder why Bailey’s kind has taken such a pointy and sudden decline, with zero goals and two assists coming his manner this marketing campaign from ten Premier League clashes.
Handed a 5/10 match rating after the sport by Birmingham Reside’s John Townley, with the journalist merely stating that the Villa quantity 31 is ‘struggling for confidence’, the time might now be proper for Bailey to be given a break from first-team duties, as Emery goes about reinvigorating his troops to bounce again from the sorry state they’re at present submerged in.
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