Jhon Duran must sharpen up his shots to contend with Cameron Archer at Aston Villa next season
Jhon Duran has endured a tough start to life in an Aston Villa shirt since joining the club in the January transfer window, and the return of Cameron Archer poses yet another obstacle to overcome.
The Villans snapped up the Colombian teenager from Chicago Fire in an £18million deal – Emery’s second transfer at the club – but he has struggled for regular minutes ever since. [BBC Sport]
The striker’s impact in the Premier League has been limited to 124 minutes of action spread across 12 substitute appearances, while he is still yet to open his account in claret and blue.
And although this course of action may be pre-planned by Emery and the Villa coaching staff, the return of Cameron Archer could see him slip further down the pecking order.
During his loan spell at Middlesbrough in the second half of the season, the England Under-21 international left a goal trail in his wake, netting 11 goals and providing six assists from just 20 appearances.
If Villa’s big-money signing wishes to play a part in the first team’s excursion into the Europa Conference League next season and not be shipped off on loan into the EFL, he must look to sharpen up his shooting in front of goal.
As highlighted by the Opta-powered stats on FBREF, Duran gets in the right positions to fire shots on goal – completing 3.95 shots per 90 since the beginning of his 2022 season in the MLS (due to his lack of data at Aston Villa) compared to Archer’s 2.35 total.
The Colombian international has also recorded 1.58 shots on target per 90 to Archer’s 1.08, but his potency in front of goal is clearly still lacking, with it the Villa academy graduate averaging 0.30 goals per shot – over double the strike rate of Duran’s 0.13.
The stats show that Duran is delivering the exact number of goals his chances should reap, finishing on a ‘Goals minus expected goals’ total of 0.0, however, he is still streets behind Archer.
The 21-year-old is overperforming his data significantly, scoring 4.6 goals than expected from the shots he has taken during his loan spell at Middlesbrough.
If the former Chicago Fire forward wants to blast his way into Emery’s thinking for the 2023/24 season, he must follow in Archer’s footsteps and improve his proficiency in the final third.
In other Aston Villa news, a three-man La Liga blitz may be on the cards amid a potential reunion for Emery.