Aston Villa will take a narrow advantage with them to France in the second leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-final against Lille, however, Unai Emery has been warned of the frailty of one star from the first leg.
Taking a 2-1 victory from the first leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-final was a good result for Aston Villa, who arguably could have scored more at Villa Park against Lille on Thursday night.
It was, of course, Ollie Watkins who opened the scoring for Unai Emery’s side, netting his 25th goal of the season to give the hosts the early advantage at home.
The Villa talisman’s header was then complemented by John McGinn’s elegant second-half strike, a goal that turned out to be crucial as LOSC Lille found a way to reduce the Premier League side’s lead ahead of the second leg.
Bafode Diakite was the unlikely source of the visitor’s goal however, the defender’s header wasn’t the only chance that Lille had to score, causing some worry for Emery to consider.
Unai Emery told of ‘the worry’ that Youri Tielemans caused Aston Villa v Lille
Throughout the contest, Paulo Fonseca’s side asked questions of Villa’s defence, with the French side unlucky to not score more than once as they were frequently denied by the presence of Emi Martinez.
Most of Lille’s positive play in the final third stemmed on the counter, exposing the current frailties in Villa’s midfield, with the defensive minds of Boubacar Kamara and Jacob Ramsey absent.
Speaking on TNT Sports’ live commentary of the fixture, pundit Lucy Ward admitted that Youri Tielemans had caused a ‘worry’ for the hosts for one reason.
“The worry is that Villa are not as compact in front of the front four, Tielemans is not as mobile when Villa lose possession.”
For all of the positive work that Tielemans puts in when it comes to moving the ball upfield, the Belgian is far from being a natural ‘number six’, with his defensive weaknesses made obvious as Lille ran through Villa multiple times.
Unai Emery should be wary of Youri Tielemans weakness in Lille display
The numbers support Ward’s concerns over Tielemans when it comes to being able to provide the necessary protection in front of the defence, as he won just two of his seven attempted ground duels against Lille, via Sofascore.
It was a difficult night for the midfielder, who is far better equipped further upfield, losing possession five times, committing four fouls and being dribbled past once to see his frailties highlighted by the opposition.
While Emery’s resources in the middle are currently limited, alarm bells will be ringing in the manager’s head, particularly ahead of Villa’s duel with Arsenal on Sunday.
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