Aston Villa returned to the winning way in Premier League narrow 2-1 win over Leicester City at Villa Park on Saturday afternoon.
Unai Emery‘this side has been quite inconsistent over the past few weeks. A win over Manchester City was followed by a defeat to Newcastle United before 2024 ended with a draw with Brighton and Hove Albion.
However, they are off to a good start in 2025 and a win means they now sit eighth in the league table.
Aston Villa’s best players against Leicester
Ross Barkley was a notable presence for Emery during the clash against the Foxes. Not only did he finish the game with 98% success ratebut the Englishman also scored first with a fine, determined effort, losing possession just twice and winning six of his eight ground tackles.
On the other hand, Ezri Konsa won 100% of his tackles, completed 96% of his passes and made two tackles, ensuring the Foxes were kept at bay.
|
Aston Villa v Leicester City – Key Stats |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat |
Highest ranked |
|
Goal kicks |
Leon Bailey (2) |
|
Key passages |
Matty Cash and Boubacar Kamara (2) |
|
Won duels on the ground |
Matty Cash (10) |
|
Precise passes |
Tyrone Mings (100) |
|
Solving |
Matty Cash (7) |
It was Leon Bailey who returned to some form, finally scoring his first goal of the campaign after good work from substitute Ian Maatsen down the left flank, and it turned out to be the winner.
The Jamaican certainly saved a few blushes as Villa looked to be heading for a 1-1 draw before the winger scored. One player who will be grateful to his teammate is Ollie Watkinssince the striker was poor all the time on the pitch.
Ollie Watkins’ game in numbers against Leicester
It’s fair to say that the centre-forward hasn’t been at his best this season. Throughout 2023/24, he scored 27 goals while he registered 13 assists, thus securing a place in England for the European Championship.
At the time of writing, Watkins is found the net only eight timeswithout goals in the Champions League, and on Saturday he showed a stale game.
During the conflict, he completed just nine overswho was 16 short of Emiliano Martínez in the Villa goal, while taking 22 touches and registering just two shots, none of which were on target.
Performance in numbers
Want data and statistics? Football FanCast’s Performance in Numbers series brings you the latest match analysis from across Europe.
The striker also lost possession eight times – including in the build-up to Stephy Mavididi’s equalizer – lost five of eight duels in total and missed a big chance as he failed to get on the scoresheet.
On top of that, he got a match rating only 4/10 Charlie Haffenden of the Birmingham World, who stated that Watkins was ‘toothless’ in front of goal that day.
Does he feel the pressure of competition for his place in the side? Jhon Duran finally emerges as a key player for Emery, he has already scored 12 goals of 26 performances in this term.
With a game against West Ham United to follow in the FA Cup next week, Duran’s continued absence through suspension could see Watkins keep his place, although, in the longer term, the battle for that starting spot is intriguing.
The Englishman will need to improve on his next outing, that’s for sure.
