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Aston Villa vs. Sheffield Wednesday: Player Ratings – Sept. 22nd

By Josh Tonti

TELFORD, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Jonathan Kodjia of Aston Villa celebrates with James Chester following the first goal of the game during the Pre-season friendly between AFC Telford United and Aston Villa at New Bucks Head Stadium on July 14, 2018 in Telford, England. (Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)
TELFORD, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Jonathan Kodjia of Aston Villa celebrates with James Chester following the first goal of the game during the Pre-season friendly between AFC Telford United and Aston Villa at New Bucks Head Stadium on July 14, 2018 in Telford, England. (Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images) /
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Aston Villa fall further behind in the automatic promotion race after 2-1 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

Stop if you’ve heard this before, but Aston Villa under-performed against an inferior opponent. Manager Steve Bruce elected keep the flat 4-4-2 formation that beat Rotherham United 2-0 midweek. As Albert Adomah entered for Anwar El Ghazi on the wing, a near-unchanged XI struggled to dictate their style-of-play, whatever that was supposed to look like.

It’s clear the central midfield pivot of John McGinn and Conor Hourihane is not a viable option on most occasion. Neither player is looking to defend 100% of the time, neither is strong in the air or can prevent midfield runners from getting in behind.

Tammy Abraham and Jonathan Kodjia partnered up top for the second game running. They could not have been quieter on the afternoon.

Villa’s most creative outlet, Jack Grealish, was again ushered to left-wing instead of his usual No. 10 spot. I’d love to see a midfield diamond 4-4-2 with Jedinak shielding, McGinn/Hourihane shuttling, and Grealish just behind the forward pairing. But alas, we have not seen that yet.

Player ratings below:

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