Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw with Brentford was a fitting summary of where Unai Emery’s team finds itself six games into the Premier League season, with Villa’s attack looking more dangerous by the week, and their defence still struggling to keep the ball out of the net.
Villa’s 1.79 open play expected goals (xG) was their best tally of the season and more than any other team has produced against Brentford this season, as their new-look attack comes together.
It was another top performance from Nicolas Jackson, who led Villa’s front line brilliantly and took his goal well to bring Villa back level at 1-1, making it look easier than it was.
He also finished second for touches in the opposition box (7), had two key passes and had more sprints (31) than any other player by a wide margin, as the next-highest number was 23.
Making his first start at Villa Park, Johan Manzambi was involved in most of the things Villa did well offensively and provided his third goal contribution in the last two Premier League games when he assisted John McGinn to put Villa in front.
Manzambi had more shots (7), touches in the opposition box (8) and completed dribbles (2) than anyone else on the pitch, while no-one created more chances than his three and he also had nine line-breaking passes, which was joint-third in the match.
Ibrahim Mbaye added pace to proceedings when he came on for the final 21 minutes, reaching 35 kmph, which was the top speed hit by any player in the game (the next-highest was 33.6).
Momentum is clearly building for Villa’s forward line, which bodes well for the rest of the season, but there is still a lot to clean up at the other end of the pitch.
The choice to play Tyrone Mings over Pau Torres made sense due to Brentford’s threat from crosses and at set pieces.
But Keith Andrews’ side are also known for pressing aggressively, so it was confusing to see Villa continually attempt to play out from the back without Torres, who is a critical part of their build up. They too often played themselves into trouble, including for Brentford’s opening goal.
One issue that has cropped up regularly this season is Villa’s inability to defend the edge of their own penalty area. They have conceded multiple goals from that area, and both Joao Gomes and Boubacar Kamara could have done better for Brentford’s goals on Saturday.
For the first, Gomes ran back into his own six-yard box despite Villa having plenty of cover, leaving Yehor Yarmolyuk in too much space outside the penalty area to fire home.
Kamara was turned near his own box in the lead up to the second goal, and Gomes was caught in two minds, ultimately making the wrong choice to try to cut off a pass rather than close down Kristoffer Ajer as he bore down on goal.
There were positives, as individual defenders like Victor Lindelof and Matty Cash had strong performances.
Lindelof’s 13 clearances were seven more than any other player on either side, and he also completed the most successful passes (41 out of 46 attempts), ten of which were line-breaking, which ranked second in the match.
Cash held up well against a tough opponent in Kevin Schade, before the winger went off injured, and by the end of the game Villa’s right-back had won seven of his 11 ground duels and made five tackles, which led all players.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka also fared well after being thrown in at left-back following Matteo Ruggeri’s hamstring injury. He may have to play there in the coming weeks with Ian Maatsen also out, and considering it is not his natural side, Wan-Bissaka looked pretty comfortable.
Villa have never really been a side built on clean sheets under Emery, and that will probably continue to be the case. But they have now allowed multiple goals in four out of their six league games (they also conceded two against Club Brugge) and have just one clean sheet.
After the game, Emery told Villa TV: “We created chances to score, we created chances to win, but we conceded more than I expected, more than I usually want”.
Villa must tighten up at the back in the coming games to avoid undermining the good work they are doing at the other end.
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