Aston Villa manager Unai Emery could now face a headache over selection, with statistics revealing a threat from an unlikely source that could derail the Spaniard’s pecking order.
Aston Villa have endured a brilliant season under Unai Emery, but not one without a host of challenges along the way.
Suffering three ACL injuries to first-team players was not how Emery would have wanted the 2023/24 campaign to unfold, with a list of other less-severe absences also plaguing the squad throughout the calendar.
One area that was stripped bare of resources due to injury is the defence, with the manager having to field his fifth and sixth-choice centre-backs in Clement Lenglet and Calum Chambers last month.
That being said, the boss could now be forced to rethink the pecking order of his back line, with statistics suggesting that Villa get the most joy in one area through one surprising pairing.
The statistic that shows how strong Diego Carlos and Clement Lenglet are for Villa
In a statistic provided by JK Football Analytics, via BirminghamLive, it has been revealed that both Diego Carlos and Lenglet are amongst the most threatening creators in the Premier League.
Rarely contributing to goals, the duo are in fact extremely strong when it comes to their contribution to building play, with Lenglet outscoring Villa’s progressive maestro, Pau Torres when it comes to expected threat (xT).
As cited by BirminghamLive, the stats are ‘generated from in-play passes, carries and dribbles’, with the Frenchman coming out on top for his contribution behind and left of the centre circle.
Joining Lenglet as a Villa player who exerts the most xT is Carlos, who tops the Premier League charts in the centre just behind the centre circle, revealing two influential creators through extremely unexpected sources.
Unai Emery now has a challenge to work out his best back four
This season, the Villans have found the most joy in pairing Ezri Konsa and Torres, who have the highest win rate of any defensive pairing in the Premier League.
Unfortunately, the duo have spent a host of time receiving treatment this season, with Emery having to flex his defensive depth to cover.
Out of Tyrone Mings, Konsa, Torres, Lenglet, Carlos and Chambers, the boss has the chance to rotate his defence when needed, with his pecking order now having the potential to shift due to the xT statistics.
Emery’s system has seen progressive defenders such as Torres thrive this term, with a lot of Villa’s positive passages of attacking play stemming from the Spaniard’s ability to step out of defence.
That being said, the numbers of Lenglet and Carlos suggest that the boss could be missing a trick in excluding both from his favoured back four.
The numbers don’t lie however, they don’t tell the full story, with their xT being highly influential but the solid success rate of a duo such as Torres and Konsa being undeniable.
It’s not expected that Emery will switch up his back line anytime soon however, the manager is blessed to be in a position where his lower choices are stepping up and performing at the top level, bolstering Villa’s depth.
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