After suffering a 1-0 loss to Brentford on Saturday, Aston Villa is starting the Premier League season quite slowly with a singular point through two matches. Last weekend, Villa was involved in a scoreless affair with Newcastle, and that same scoring drought persisted away at Brentford earlier today.
From afar, Villa dominated much of the possession throughout its loss on Matchday 2, so that could be viewed as a marked improvement, but a few unsettling trends have already emerged. Clearly, goal production is at the top of that list.
However, Aston Villa was without the services of Ezri Konsa for today’s match after picking up a red card against Newcastle, so manager Unai Emery clearly did not field his first-choice squad. To make matters worse, midfielder Boubacar Kamara suffered an injury and was substituted as a precaution after only 15 minutes, so Villa was not at full strength during any part of the match. Still, if the club looks to maintain its ambitious approach to a four-competition campaign, Villa need a better result against Brentford, whether it's a home or an away fixture.
3 positives for Aston Villa
- The claret and blue dominated possession throughout the first half with a 78.7% rate, and that ball security continued in the second stanza as well. Villa turned into possession merchants all match long but were ultimately unable to capitalize.
– Villa drew seven first-half corners and created a couple shot attempts immediately thereafter but only forced Kelleher to make 1 save in the opening 45 minutes, so not much was done with those set pieces.
– Guessand looked lively after coming on late in the second half. Guessand helped link up play and made quick decisions when gaining possession, so the Ivorian international looked talented in an albeit short cameo.
3 Negatives for Aston Villa
– From the start, Villa was caught out on the break several times. Brentford was able to showcase its superior speed up front, and Dango Ouattara outran Pau Torres before peppering Emi Martinez with a shot on the break. Martinez deflected this attempt, but Ouattara cleaned up the rebound and put Brentford up 1-0 early on. This match marked the first time Torres and Tyrone Mings had started together at Aston Villa since Konsa was unable to play.
– During the first half, Brentford won more duels and posted 28 first half clearances, so the Bees were able to snuff out most of Villa’s possession-laden attacking stints. In the second half, Villa did better at creating play in the final third, but Ollie Watkins did not receive clear, decisive chances at net at any point in the match.
– Villa was held scoreless in consecutive matches. Perhaps it should be apparent after losing Jacob Ramsey, Leon Bailey, Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford from last season’s squad, but Villa need to sort out its attacking plans on the wings and throughout the midfield. Donyell Malen received some run towards the latter part of the second half, and he continues to show promise. Guessand similarly has intriguing attacking talents, but there is a lack of continuity in the final third for Villa at the moment.
Villa will look to regroup before hosting Crystal Palace on Sunday, Aug. 31 at Villa Park.