Emery sack talk quashed but same Aston Villa problem remains despite impressive winning run
The pressure has eased on head coach Unai Emery due to Aston Villa’s impressive winning run in the Premier League, but the same problem remains…
Aston Villa suffered a severe hangover from last season in the opening weeks of this campaign, but that was to be expected.
A slot start was always inevitable after Aston Villa’s failure to qualify for the Champions League on the final game of last season sparked a damaging chain of events.
Playing in the Europa League rather than the Champions League reduced Aston Villa’s budget as their transfer activity was limited until the final couple of days of the summer window.
And as they have done for a few windows, the Villans recruited poorly as sporting director Monchi has left the club, while several key players were linked with transfers for most of the summer and had no real inclination of where they would be playing this season.
READ:Â Premier League prize money table revealed with three teams joining Liverpool at the top
Most ended up staying, but this prolonged period of limbo has impacted performances as Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers have been far from their best.
And there has been talk surrounding Unai Emery’s future at Villa Park, with a sacking prematurely floated as the West Midlands outfit sat in the relegation zone, having only earned two points and scored one goal in their opening four Premier League games.
However, Aston Villa’s eight Premier League games have been a story of two halves as they have climbed the table via three wins and a draw from their past four outings.
Aston Villa have also increased their scoring output in these matches as they have netted eight goals, while their form in all competitions is even more impressive on paper as they have recorded five consecutive victories.
Despite this, there is still a reason for Aston Villa and Emery to be concerned as they have not picked up victories in a sustainable manner.
In their first four games against Newcastle United, Brentford, Crystal Palace and Everton scored one goal via an xG of 3.07, while in their next four matches against Sunderland, Fulham, Burnley and Tottenham, they netted eight goals via an xG of 3.37.
So, the return of Aston Villa’s clinical edge has reaped rewards as they have edged out opponents by taking far more of their chances and scoring in unlikely circumstances.
But their season-long issue of struggling to create chances remains as their xG in their first four and last four games is almost identical.
With goal-shy Watkins struggling to break his duck and Rogers also experiencing difficulties before his stunning strike against Spurs, Aston Villa are finding answers through spreading their output across five different scorers, though their current winning run does not tell the whole story as they remain levels below where they were at last season.
READ NEXT:Â Arsenal evolution into title favourites summed up by table which captures Newcastle problems
