View: Rachel Daly could score even more if Aston Villa Women improve poor stat
It’s been a mixed start to the season for Carla Ward’s Aston Villa side, with the weekend thumping by Manchester United certainly raising a few questions about her team’s performance.
Villa were completely dominated by the Red Devils and could never really get into the game in an attacking sense. United bossed all the stats, and it’s hard to argue about the 5-0 scoreline. Despite the defeat, Villa still sit fifth in the Women’s Super League standings and are well-placed to have a successful second half of the season.
One area where Villa have been strong is in the striking department with Rachel Daly currently the joint top goalscorer in the country. Sadly their second-highest goalscorer Kenza Dali has just two goals to her name.
Daly has proven to be a clinical striker for Ward’s side this season with her eight goals coming from an expected goals (XG) of 5.87 (Wyscout). This indicates she is making the most of the limited opportunities which are coming her way.
None of her goals have come from outside the area this season, with the 30-year-old proving she is a fox in the box. Considering she’s overperforming the number of chances she’s currently having, it’s time for Villa to start giving Daly more opportunities.
It’s clear the Villans don’t have many goalscoring options within their squad, which has led to a reliance on Daly, but this isn’t a bad thing. If Ward’s side can start creating more chances for the striker, they will undoubtedly climb up the league.
Interestingly, Villa have attempted more crosses than any other team in the Women’s Super League, with the Villans amassing 20 more than Manchester City and nearly 40 more than Manchester City.
Considering they get the ball in the box a lot of the time, why haven’t they been able to gift Daly more chances?
One of the explanations comes from their lack of crossing accuracy. Despite being the most eager crosses in the Women’s Super League, they are the fourth worse when it comes to their accuracy. With only 27.7 per cent of their deliveries going to a Villa player, it’s no surprise Daly has had to be clinical whenever she gets the chance.
The most damning stat for Villa is that only 17 of their 184 crosses have actually reached the six-yard box. So how do they fix this?
One answer could be to get Sarah Mayling in better-attacking positions, with the right back currently ranked sixth in the WSL for crossing accuracy with 37 per cent. Which is significantly better than what Villa are averaging at the moment.
She is currently averaging 4.2 per match, which puts her behind Alisha Lehmann and Kirsty Hanson when it comes to Villa’s most prolific crosses of the ball. Hanson and Lehmann must improve their delivery, with both averaging below 25 per cent accuracy at the moment.
If Villa can start getting better service to Daly, there’s every chance she will be even more prolific than she has already been.
In other Aston Villa news, Alan Hutton believes Emi Martinez must improve distribution for Aston Villa under Unai Emery.