Aston Villa’s ‘scintillating’ ace Leon Bailey is currently topping some of the world’s best footballers in a highly impressive statistic.
The transformation that multiple first-team players have made under Unai Emery is nothing short of remarkable.
When the Spaniard joined the club in 2022, the Birmingham outfit were in a relegation dogfight. Yet, in just under two years, Villa are on the verge of Champions League football and their first major trophy this century.
One man who has drastically improved within the last 18 months is Leon Bailey. Once viewed as a flop under Steven Gerrard, the winger has become indispensable over recent weeks.
In the Europa Conference League, Bailey changed the game against Lille upon his introduction from the bench, with this mentality becoming a major talking point. This led to many fans insisting that he had the qualities to become the Villa captain one day.
Now, a key statistic has emerged that puts the Jamaican ahead of the world’s best this season.
Leon Bailey is outperforming Cole Palmer and Erling Haaland
xG has become the dominant statistic in football. It is used to indicate how many goals a team or player should be scoring. Therefore, for an attacker to overachieve in this department is seen as a massive feat.
Bailey sits on 10 goals so far this campaign in the Premier League, his personal best throughout his career. This has seen him net some massive goals for the Claret and Blue side, including Villa’s first in their 2-0 victory over Arsenal earlier this month.
As his attacking ability continues to improve, this has now been recognised statistically. According to WhoScored, Bailey has a 6.61 xG, excluding penalties, which gives the winger an overperformance of 3.84.
This means the 26-year-old has one of the highest xG overperformances in the top five leagues.
As it stands, Bailey has the fifth-highest overperformance in the Premier League with only Son Heung-Min, Phil Foden, Chris Wood and Jarrod Bowen reaching higher numbers.
This statistic also betters international stars such as Antoine Griezmann and Victor Osimhen.
Unai Emery has created another star at Villa Park
While the likes of Ollie Watkins and Douglas Luiz have taken the headlines throughout the campaign, players such as Bailey have been the unsung heroes.
In recent weeks, without the winger in the side, Villa would have not seen as much success. In just his last game, Bailey netted and collected an assist as the hosts demolished Bournemouth 3-1 at Villa Park.
Gareth Crook recently commented that Bailey was “scintillating” after their 4-2 victory against Nottingham Forest.
If Bailey can continue this form into next season he could become one of the Premier League’s best. Emery has a knack for improving players beyond anyone’s expectations and this talent is once again coming into full effect.
With the Champions League beckoning, Bailey could soon prove himself on Europe’s biggest stage, much to the delight of the Villa Park faithful.
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