View: John McGinn can help Aston Vila defensive double-up on Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka
John McGinn could be central to Unai Emery’s thinking against Arsenal this Saturday lunchtime (18 February) as Aston Villa look to return to winning ways following consecutive defeats in the Premier League.
The Villans will host Mikel Arteta’s side at Villa Park this weekend after both clubs fell to 3-1 defeats to Manchester City in their last outings. Despite the loss, England international Bukayo Saka added to his goal tally with a calmly taken penalty, but the way he has been marshalled in recent weeks will definitely give Emery food for thought.
In the consecutive games against Everton and Brentford, Saka was doubled up on in defence, with the left-back and left-sided midfielder man-marking the in-form forward throughout.
His influence on the game at Goodison Park was significantly limited thanks to the hard work of Alex Iwobi to cover Vitaii Mykolenko in defence, with Rico Henry repeating this feat a week later for the Bees.
If Emery is to take any nuggets from Arsenal’s recent dip in form, it should be this particular tactic, and in McGinn, he has the perfect man for the job.
Despite picking up an unfortunate hamstring injury in the 2-0 win over Spurs last month, McGinn finally returned to the match-day squad two weeks against Leicester and was brought on as a second-half substitute against Manchester City last Saturday.
He is yet to return to the starting line-up partly due to Emi Buendia’s stunning form in recent weeks, which saw him net against Leeds and strike the bar twice against Leicester City. The 26-year-old has been the main creative source for Emery in midfield and is finally starting to live up to his £33million pricetag.
However, against an Arsenal side who are likely to fly out of the blocks and vent their anger on Villa following their poor recent form, the role could well favour McGinn’s defensive attributes over Buendia’s.
Although the diminutive Argentine is extremely hard-working and has never been criticised for his lack of running, he simply doesn’t require the defensive experience to keep Saka quiet. If needs be, Emery could always shift Buendia to the right of the midfield four to accommodate McGinn, with this move surely one of several changes the Spaniard will be making after the poor showing against City last time out.
McGinn is a dogged, determined terrier of a midfielder, and he must surely be let off the lead to stop Saka in his tracks this weekend.
In other Aston Villa news, the club face competition from Barcelona to secure the signing of a striker at the end of the season.