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On home form, Aston Villa lead the table in the Premier League, picking up 24 points from a possible 24 at Villa Park. However, on away form, the Midlands club are sixth.
The Villans’ showing away at Brentford showcased once more why Unai Emery‘s side need to improve their away form if they are to be serious title contenders this season. Villa managed to pick up all three points from the match, despite going a goal behind through Keane Lewis-Potter in the first half but the performance was quite disappointing.
A Ben Mee red card in the game was certainly the catalyst behind the win but Emery may be left disheartened by displays from certain individuals, including one player in particular.
Moussa Diaby’s game in numbers
Club record £52m signing Moussa Diaby started on Thursday as Aston Villa earned a 1-1 draw against Zrinjski Mostar in the Europa League which was enough to see Emery’s side finish top of the group while qualifying for the knockout phase.
The Frenchman didn’t set the world alight in Bosnia, earning a 6/10 player rating via Birmingham Live, but was rewarded with another start at the Gtech Community Stadium today.
However, the attacker struggled to get into the match and didn’t create a single opportunity during the game for star striker and top goalscorer Ollie Watkins who recorded merely one shot on goal during Diaby’s time on the pitch.
Additionally, Diaby whipped three balls into the penalty area during the game but only one was successful, while the France international also lost 60% of his ground duels.
With 25 minutes remaining of normal time, Diaby was taken off by the manager but was not the worst player to be taken off at the same time in London.
Matty Cash’s performance in numbers
Matty Cash being substituted in the 65th minute earlier this afternoon was arguably more of a catalyst behind Villa’s comeback win than Mee being sent off.
The Poland international struggled throughout the match and was eventually replaced by Leon Bailey who assisted Alex Moreno for the equalising goal 12 minutes after stepping onto the pitch.
During the game, Cash completed just 73% of his total 22 passes, while also missing one big chance at the far post early in the first half which registered an xG of 0.17.
In addition, Cash made merely one pass into the final third all game despite his side possessing 68% of the ball and lost 60% of his six ground duels up against Saman Ghoddos on that side, who completed more tackles than anyone else during the game, according to FotMob.
Furthermore, Cash had only 34 touches of the ball against the Bees, having played more than an hour’s worth of football and lost possession 12 times.
In contrast, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had more touches with 38, as per Sofascore, which emphasises the lack of impact the full-back had on the match.
Matty Cash’s Stats vs Brentford |
|
---|---|
Goals |
0.17 |
Assists |
0 |
Expected Goals |
0 |
Expected Assists |
0.02 |
Successful Crosses |
0 |
Touches |
34 |
Successful Dribbles |
1 |
Possession lost |
12 |
Interceptions |
1 |
Blocked shots |
0 |
Stats via Sofascore |
Cash was one of the worst players on the pitch statistically during Villa’s 2-1 win and is rather fortunate that the Midlands team managed to pull a victory out of the hat when he was taken off in the second half.
This is certainly not a match he will want to remember any time soon as the dud was worse than Diaby and was rightly taken off by the head coach when Villa were 1-0 down.
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