Aston Villa duo Emi Buendia and Alex Moreno key to Unai Emery left-hand side attacking preference
Aston Villa have come on leaps and bounds under manager Unai Emery, with the club rising all the way to sixth place in the Premier League table.
Fans will already be dreaming of overcoming Tottenham in fifth, with the North London outfit just six points ahead with eight matches still play.
But many other supporters will be grateful enough for the current position given how badly things were going under Steven Gerrard not so long ago.
It hasn’t all been perfect for the current incumbent in the Villa Park dugout, with Emery losing four and drawing two of his 17 league games so far [Sky Sports].
But one phenomenal feat that will please the boss is that his club have scored in all 17 of those matches, 11 of which they have won.
Fluid, attacking football has been brought back to Aston Villa, but interestingly, the team have relied heavily on one side of the pitch for their attacking endeavours.
As per WhoScored, a huge 41% of Aston Villa’s attacks have come from their left-hand side. Only Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United (42%) boast a higher total than Villa in this season’s Premier League.
It comes in stark contrast to the 35% of attacks from the club’s right-hand side, with only five clubs having a lower tally than Emery’s men in this regard.
The manager has been flexible with his formations and subsequently the positions of various players, but lately it has been Argentine ace Emiliano Buendia filling in on the left side of the attack.
He is one of several players to have upped their game under Emery, and the same can be said for left-back Alex Moreno, another player to have unquestionably contributed to Villa’s askew attacking preference given his delight at getting forward as much as possible.
Striker Ollie Watkins meanwhile has also had a say in proceedings, with the star forward often popping up on the left when he is not in and around the box scoring goals.
This preference is highlighted by the team’s average positions, and those of Moreno and Buendia, from the recent win against Leicester [SofaScore].
Villa’s meeting with high-flying Newcastle on Saturday (15 April) looks set to be a thrilling clash, with Magpies right-back Kieran Trippier expecting to be in for a busy afternoon as he prepares to deal with the likes of Buendia and Moreno.
Extra spice is added to the encounter given Villa’s aforementioned scoring record under Emery and the fact that Newcastle sit joint-top of the clean sheets leaderboard in the current campaign, as per the official Premier League website.
In other Aston Villa news, one player’s recent displays represent a perfect reflection of the club’s resurgence under Emery.