Aston Villa manager Unai Emery still has a big task on his hands to improve one area in his squad, with the numbers showing just how far the Villans are from keeping up with the best in the Premier League.
Saturday afternoon’s draw with Brentford was a tough result for Aston Villa to take, as the hosts squandered a 2-0 lead at Villa Park.
With only six games remaining of Villa’s 2023/24 Premier League campaign, Unai Emery’s side’s hopes of finishing in the top four have taken a beating this week, taking one point from a possible six.
The defeat to Manchester City was seen as somewhat inevitable as the manager fielded a side made up of six changes to his usual starting XI, subtly making the Brentford draw seem worse considering how ready his side were for the challenge.
Aside from only walking away with a draw, the Villans will be most concerned with the manner in which the result was earned, conceding three goals in just nine minutes in front of a home crowd.
The result only hammered home one potent issue that Emery is yet to solve at Villa Park, a weakness that currently highlights just how far Villa still are from being regarded as one of the Premier League’s best.
The issue that Unai Emery must fix at Aston Villa
By conceding three against Brentford, Villa’s goal difference suffered, taking the number of goals the squad have conceded this season to 49.
It’s an extremely alarming number of goals to have conceded after 32 games played, particularly when looking at the tightness of the defences around them.
Out of the top four, Villa have conceded the most by a staggering 18 goals, with Arsenal conceding 24, Liverpool 28, Manchester City 31 and Villa 49.
To put into perspective just how easily Emery’s side are letting goals in, the Villans have had more goals scored against them than relegation-threatened Everton, who have conceded 42 so far.
Considering all the work that Villa have done to reinstate themselves as one of the top clubs in England, there is still an alarming amount of work to be done defensively, with the recent form playing a significant part in the dire number of goals conceded.
Aston Villa have conceded too many goals recently
After the draw with Brentford, skipper Ollie Watkins admitted that his side lacked ‘big game mentality’, voicing his frustration at the host’s ability to throw away a 2-0 lead so quickly.
In their previous six Premier League games, Villa have conceded a concerning 14 goals, an average of more than two goals per game at such a crucial point of the season.
There could be a lot of factors to consider when critiquing the Villans’ lack of defensive stability, with key injuries, new faces and their favoured tactical method of playing a high-line some subjects that could disturb cohesion.
When Emery took over in October 2022, Villa were 16th, telling of how much the Spaniard has helped the squad to grow however, the recent frailties at the back indicate just where the boss must now look to improve if the club are to continue to progress.
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