Sam Stone

Thu 15 December 2022 9:12, UK

It’s been a season of ups and downs for Aston Villa with Unai Emery now at the helm looking to bridge the gap to the top half of the Premier League.

When the season started, Villa always had the ambition of trying to be in contention for the European places, however, the poor start under Steven Gerrard has made that ambition hard to achieve. There have been some low points in the 2022/23 campaign, but positivity is starting to filter back into the club with the Spaniard now in charge.

There have been lots of aspects of Villa’s performances which have been wrong this season, but one area in particular that they cannot do much about is the number of fouls they’re suffering per 90 minutes.

As per Wyscout, only Crystal Palace have been fouled more than Aston Villa this season. In each game, on average, Villa are being fouled over ten times, which is more than the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. So why exactly is this happening, and is it something the Villans could use more to their advantage?

It’s clear why Crystal Palace sit top of the pile when it comes to fouls suffered with the Eagles having some exceptional ball carriers in their ranks, with Wilfried Zaha being the most fouled player in the Premier League.

Interestingly for Aston Villa, their attacking players are nowhere to be seen when it comes to winning free-kicks. Their most fouled player is John McGinn (24), closely followed by Ezri Konsa and Jacob Ramsey (21).

The natural assumption would be that the likes of Leon Bailey, Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings are the players who would be drawing fouls in attacking areas. Instead, the likes of McGinn and Ramsey are proving to be the players who win the most free-kicks for Villa.

McGinn in particular has a knack for getting his body in excellent positions to draw fouls from defenders. Against Brighton, he was founded five times (including winning a penalty), with the majority of the offences coming in the midfield area.

As the images above show, the midfielder looks to get his body in between himself and the opposing player before twisting and turning before hitting the deck and winning a foul. It’s a very similar situation with Ramsey, with the 21-year-old being fouled nearly twice a game on average.

The example below against Manchester United is very similar to McGinn, with the Ramsey picking the ball up in a midfield area and looking to his strength and technical ability to turn the defender.

So, considering Villa are amongst the most fouled teams in the Premier League, should they be making more of the free-kick opportunities which come their way?

As per Whoscored, Villa are currently in the bottom five teams when it comes to goals from set-pieces with four scored. Surprisingly, the most fouled team in the league Palace sit below the Villans. So why exactly aren’t they better utilising the number of free kicks? The simple answer is, they’re not getting the likes of McGinn and Ramsey high enough up the pitch.

Arsenal rank in the top three teams for fouls suffered in the Premier League, and currently have the second-highest number of set-piece goals. The Gunners’ three most fouled players are Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. All three operate in attacking positions.

Unfortunately for Villa, their best players at drawing free kicks come from slightly deeper. When McGinn and Ramsey have got forward, they’ve been pivotal in Villa winning decisive free kicks and penalties. Below displays the 21-year-old drawing Luke Shaw into a rash tackle, with Lucas Digne scoring the subsequent free kick.

Emery has shown in his first two games that he is willing to deploy McGinn and Ramsey in slightly higher and wider positions and this could be the catalyst for Villa earning more free kicks in dangerous areas. With the aerial threats of Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa, it’s certainly something the Spaniard will be considering.

In other Aston Villa news, a new passing stat shows Unai Emery must keep Jacob Ramsey in an advanced position