‘Outstanding’ Alex Moreno swiftly becomes key Aston Villa player in European push
Aston Villa will be aiming to keep their European hopes alive when they take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, 1 April and January signing Alex Moreno has impressed since his move in January.
The Villans have been in superb form since Unai Emery’s appointment in November, accumulating 26 points in the Premier League from a possible 48 on offer, including impressive wins over Manchester United and Tottenham.
The left-back, who signed for Villa from Real Betis in a £13.3m deal [Sky Sports, 11 January], has quickly established himself as a worthy competitor to fellow full-back Lucas Digne and possesses the capabilities to eventually topple him in the Villa team under Unai Emery’s guidance.
Aston Villa are well and truly in the race for European football, currently sitting nine points off Newcastle United in fifth place and a run of wins in the coming weeks could well and truly propel them to achieving those ambition, starting at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The Villans have not tasted victory at Chelsea’s ground since the 2011/12 campaign – a tremendous 3-1 win on New Year’s eve – and considering the club’s improvement and recent form under Emery, they may not have a better chance of breaking that duck this weekend and Moreno could prove the unlikely hero.
Emery will need every attacking option at his disposal to prise open the Chelsea defence and their best avenue to exploit their weakness could present itself in the wide areas for which Moreno has proven so pivotal in recent weeks.
The Spaniard picked up his second assist from his last three starts against West Ham on [12 March] with a perfectly placed cross for the in-form Ollie Watkins to duly nod home beyond Alphonse Areola in the Hammers’ goal.
And across his nine outings for the Villans so far, Moreno has quickly become the West Midlands outfit’s unlikely source of creativity from the wide areas.
According to WhoScored, Moreno completes an astonishing 1.6 dribbles per match at a 52% success rate, which is even better than winger Leon Bailey, and is also considerably far superior to Digne’s 0.1 per 90 minutes.
The Spaniard also has the joint highest number of key passes per game (1.3) alongside Douglas Luiz which all highlights how crucial Moreno is and will be in providing attacking invention and goals in their European push.
When getting into the final third, Moreno isn’t afraid to have a pop at goal as well, recording 0.8 shots per game an uncommon trait for a full-back. However, the Spaniard will need to improve his defensive efforts in the coming weeks though, but he still provides an extra solidity that Emery cherishes, averaging 1.0 tackles and 1.0 clearances per game [SofaScore].
Moreno’s most telling performance certainly came in the win over the Hammers, receiving high praise for his “outstanding” showing from former Villa player Alan Hutton, where in just over an hour of action, he completed four dribbles – a team-high – and produced three key passes [WhoScored].
That’s the kind of levels Emery will be desperately craving in the coming weeks ahead and having only just joined in January, Moreno is swiftly proving to be one of the English top-flight’s best and most adept left-backs.
In other Aston Villa news, the club has been tipped to sign a new striker to aid their bid to return to European football.