Sam Stone

Sun 15 January 2023 16:51, UK

It was far from a vintage performance from Aston Villa in their 2-1 win over Leeds United on Friday evening at Villa Park.

Nevertheless, Unai Emery will be pleased with his side picking up the three points despite not performing to their full potential against Jesse Marsch’s men.

Leeds do deserve some credit. They were impressive on the night and can probably count themselves quite unfortunate not to have at least earnt themselves a point.

Villa suffered an early injury setback during the fixture with Lucas Digne being forced off in the first half. That led Emery to give January signing Alex Moreno his first taste of Premier League football and here Villa News takes a look at how the 29-year-old performed on the victory on Friday (13 January).

Defensive duties

Moreno is known to be an expansive and attacking full-back but ultimately the prime objective of any defender is to defend. So how exactly did Moreno get on in a defensive sense? Marsch’s side have a number of lively attackers and it’s fair to say the 29-year-old had a tough time initially.

He’s a diminutive figure and potentially struggled with the fast-paced physical nature of the contest to begin with. This was displayed by his defensive duel success rate being significantly lower than his career average. Against the Yorkshire side, Moreno only managed a 17 per cent success rate compared to his 59 per cent average (Wyscout). This was the one blot on his defensive performance because the rest of his underlying stats are impressive.

Moreno read the game exceptionally well and this was displayed by his eight interceptions during the clash at Villa Park. He was able to spot when a pass was going to be made and ensure he was in between it and its intended target.

Despite the Spaniard arriving at Aston Villa with a reputation for wanting to get forward as much as possible, he understood the scenario of the game and ensured he did his bit defensively. He managed five clearances and committed three fouls, which are both considerably higher than his average.

He seems to be a player who fans could warm to with his eagerness to fulfil his defensive duties as best he can.

Adventurous

Moreno was obviously going to ease himself into proceedings against Leeds and focus on being solid defensively on his debut. However, there were some signs that he will be an effective attacking outlet for the Villans in the coming weeks and months.

The 29-year-old managed two shots whilst operating in the full-back role which is impressive on his Premier League debut. However, Moreno will be expected to influence the game with assists and crosses for Emery’s side, so how exactly did he fair on that front?

Throughout his career, the left-back has averaged three crosses a game with a 33 per cent accuracy, which is exactly what he managed against Leeds. Furthermore, he’s also a player who likes to run with the ball and beat his man which was on show on Friday evening.

Moreno tends to amass just over five dribbles per match with over a 50 per cent success rate. This was there for all to see against Marsch’s side as the 29-year-old attempted six one on ones.

One area of his attacking game which we should hopefully see more of is his ability to carry the ball up the field in a direct manner. He only managed one progressive run on his debut but has usually managed three per game.

It was certainly a promising debut in difficult circumstances and the Spaniard will be looking to impress again Southampton in their next Premier League fixture.

In other Aston Villa news, Dan Bardell believes Unai Emery must make the most out of a favourable run of fixtures if he hopes to climb up the Premier League table