Unai Emery produced another world-class tactical plan to demolish Brighton & Hove Albion 6-1 at Villa Park in the Premier League on Saturday.
Join me as I share the player statistics that are related to the roles of the players and our philosophy of play.
If a player’s statistic is highlighted in gold, that player has the top stat for this game.
Words by: Ryan Mckeown – Stats from: FBRef
EMILIANO MARTÍNEZ
Martinez’s style of distribution was heavily switched up tactically; we witnessed a clear instruction to go direct.
For context, I’ll refer back to our last home game against Crystal Palace.
A “launched ball” is a pass longer than 40 yards. Against Brighton, 25 of these were attempted; Palace, in contrast, only 4 attempted. Out of the 33 passes attempted, 57.6% were launched with an average distance of 43.0 yards. Palace game: 31/6.5%.
Other key stats from the game:
Shots on Target Against – 3
Goals Against: 1
Save Percentage: 66.7%
Post-Shot Expected Goals (PSxG is expected goals based on how likely the goalkeeper is to save the shot): 1.1 PSxG.
Defensively, it was a more conservative performance; the build-up was more pacier and direct than patient. The full-backs were more narrow (somethimes creating a back-three), and the licence for them to advance further was restricted in this tactical plan.
Cash dealt very well with the threat of Mitoma, and when he did venture forward, he provided the assist for Ollie Watkins’ opener. We also saw Pau Torres adjust his usual game to step up into midfield alongside Kamara when Luiz pressed the Brighton back-line.
MATTY CASH
Take-On Attempted/Successful Take-On: 0/0
Total Touches/Attacking 3rd Touches: 46/9
Carries – (Number of times the player controlled the ball with their feet): 17
Progressive Distance – (Total distance, in yards, a player moved the ball while controlling it with their feet towards the opponent’s goal): 82 Yards.
Passes Received/ Progressive Passes Rec: 14/2
Tackles/Tackles Won: 6/4
Percentage of dribblers tackled: 74.1%
Number of players tackled plus number of interceptions: 7
Ball Recoveries (Number of loose balls recovered): 5
Crosses: 1
Assists: 1
Shot-Creating Actions: 1
PAU TORRES
Passes Completed/Passes Attempted: 33/41
Pass Completion: 80.5%
Progressive Passing Distance: 160 yards.
Progressive Passes: 2
Tackles/Tackles Won: 0/0
Shots Blocked/Tackles Blocked: 1/3
Clearances: 0
EZRI KONSA
Passes Completed/Passes Attempted: 31/36
Pass Completion: 86.1%
Progressive Passing Distance:
Progressive Passes: 2
Tackles/Tackles Won: 0/0
Shots Blocked/Tackles Blocked: 2/2
Clearances: 5
LUCAS DIGNE
Take-On Attempted/Successful Take-On: 1/0
Total Touches/Attacking 3rd Touches: 41/16
Carries – (Number of times the player controlled the ball with their feet): 19
Progressive Distance – (Total distance, in yards, a player moved the ball while controlling it with their feet towards the opponent’s goal): 30 yards
Passes Received/ Progressive Passes Rec: 16/3
Tackles/Tackles Won: 1/1
Percentage of dribblers tackled: 100%
Number of players tackled plus number of interceptions: 2
Percentage of duals aerials won: 0/2 – 0%
Crosses: 2
Shot-Creating Actions: 3
PASSING NETWORK
Can I ask a quick favour? We love producing content for you on our website, and we want to share it with as many Villa fans as possible. Consider mentioning our website next time you’re talking Villa with your friends, or better still, It’s free to subscribe to our profit-free site; you’ll receive instant email notifications of all released articles. Plus, as with the website, no adverts or spam mail will be delivered to your mailbox; only our content. Thanks.
The midfield was key in this win; the tactical shape of the press was outstanding. Luiz would push up behind a narrow front three of Watkins, Diaby, and Zaniolo, forcing Brighton wide, with Pau and Kamara creating the pivot—very expansive; McGinn would also contribute immensely in these phases, both in the press and as cover.
DOUGLAS LUIZ
Goals: 1
Shots/Shots On Target: 2/1
Shot-Creating Actions: 3
Touches: 50
Passes Attempted/Completion %: 42/88.1%
Progressive Passes: 6 (Joint with McGinn)
Tackles/Tackles Won: 3/2
Interceptions: 3
Ball Recoveries (Number of loose balls recovered): 4
BOUBARCAR KAMARA
Shot-Creating Actions: 1
Touches: 42
Passes Attempted/Completion %: 35/80%
Progressive Passes: 2
Tackles/Tackles Won: 4/3
Interceptions: 1
Ball Recoveries (Number of loose balls recovered): 3
JOHN MCGINN
After a couple of anonymous performances – to John McGinn’s standard – the Villa Captain was back to his tenacious best; harassing, physical, then composed to deliver quality.
Let’s start with the quality: his assist for Ollie Watkins’ hat-trick sealing goal—a sweetly chipped ball over the Brighton defence, which registered an xAG of only 0.3 highlighting the skill level of this action.
He was also only second to Ollie Watkins (10) for shot-creating actions, with McGinn involved in four actions, including the visually beautiful slid ball into Cash’s path in the build-up to the opener.
Defensively. His stats were high. Tackles and interceptions – 6, second only to Cash, also making two ball recoveries. Plus, committing 3 (tactical) fouls – Villa were very cute with this!
Other key stats from the game:
Shots/Shots On Target: 1/0
Shot-Creating Actions: 4
Touches: 36
Passes Attempted/Completion %: 83.3
Progressive Passes: 6
Tackles: 5
Interceptions: 1
Ball Recoveries (Number of loose balls recovered): 2
NICOLÒ ZANIOLO
Assists/xAG: 0/0
Goals/xG: 0/0
Take-On Attempted/Successful Take-On: 4/0 – 0%
Shots/Shots On Target: 2/1
Shot-Creating Actions: 3
Carries into Penalty Area: 1
Touches: 16
Passes Attempted/Completion: 6/2
Progressive Passes: 1
Sorry for interrupting the flow of the post; can you help support us? Our non-profit and ad-free website, UTVPODCAST | The Website, is now accepting small donations to help support its continuous evolution and operating costs. We love creating this content for you and want it to be as successful as possible. If you are able to help, please click the “Buy Me A Coffee” button below.
MOUSSA DIABY
Assists/xAG: 1/0.1
Goals/xG: 0/0.4
Take-On Attempted/Successful Take-On: 5/4
Shots/Shots On Target: 5/2
Shot-Creating Actions: 3
Carries/Progressive: 16/2
Carries into Penalty Area: 3
Touches: 27
Passes Attempted/Completion: 17/13
Progressive Passes: 2
OLLIE WATKINS
Hat-trick Hero! This was the very best of Ollie Watkins (in front of the watching England manager)—his game had everything: electric pace, directness, power, goals, and assists.
Incredibly, his xG was 0.8, highlighting the work he had to do from taking possession of the ball to working the angle and finding the back of the net. Great finishing, Oliie!
Let’s touch on the pace and directness I mentioned above. Watkins completed the most progressive carries, five in total. His 30 carriers overall (totalling 170 yards) are also very impressive for a forward, as well as successfully executing 2 of his 3 take-ons and receiving more progressive passes than any other Villa player.
Goals/xG: 3/0.8
Assists/xAG: 1/0.4
Shots/Shots On Target: 6/4
Take-On Attempted/Successful Take-On: 3/2
Shot-Creating Actions: 10
Carriers: 30
Carries into Penalty Area: 3
SUBS
JACOB RAMSEY: 57′
Goals: 1
Shots/Shots On Target: 2/1
Shot-Creating Actions: 1
Touches: 15
Carries/Progressive: 11/3
Passes Attempted/Completion %: 9/100%
Progressive Passes: 2
Duran: N/A
Tielemans: N/A
MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR: RYAN MCKEOWN
“Thank you for reading: any likes, retweets, or shares on the social media post where you found this article would be highly appreciated“.
“Are you on Twitter? Drop me a follow; all released articles will be posted to my feed”.
Click the icon below…
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive Ryan Mckeown – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
Thumbnail Media Credit: www.avfc.co.uk
HUGE SAVINGS ON ASTON VILLA MERCHANDISE @ KITBAG
UTVPODCAST | The Website is pleased to partner with Official AVFC Store, Fanatics, and Kitbag. Throughout the season, we will bring you exclusive offers and discount codes.
