John McGinn handed much-needed rest for Scotland v France, Unai Emery will be delighted at Aston Villa
Aston Villa have a very busy schedule ahead of them, with Unai Emery’s men trying to successfully compete on all fronts.
The Midlands club will soon play three matches in the space of seven days, beginning with a Premier League clash with West Ham on Sunday (22 October).
Another league match against Luton Town is scheduled for a week later (29 October), with Villa facing a trip to the Netherlands to take on AZ Alkmaar in Europa Conference League action in between (26 October).
Keeping his players as fit as possible will be a huge challenge for Emery, who like all club managers would not have appreciated the recent international break.
Fortunately, however, one of his star men was handed a well-deserved rest by his nation, with Scotland manager Steve Clarke giving John McGinn just over a minute in their match with France on Tuesday (17 October).
The midfielder did, of course, unsurprisingly play every minute of Scotland’s more important meeting with Spain on Thursday (12 October).
But once that Euro qualifier was out of the way, and once the nation had later qualified for the Euros due to other results, Clarke was able to leave McGinn on the bench for the majority of the match against Les Bleus.
Villa manager Emery will be extremely grateful for that decision, with his midfield maestro touching the ball just once during his brief time on the pitch in Lille, as per Sofascore.
Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t able to chip in with his regular first-class display in all areas, with the midfielder not making any tackles, interceptions or clearances, although he did lose his only ground duel.
In another boost for Villa, it was a different story for West Ham midfielder Edson Alvarez, who is likely to come up against McGinn when the two clubs meet at Villa Park.
The Mexican played the majority of both of his country’s matches during the international break, featuring for 73 minutes against Ghana and 90 minutes against Germany.
The Hammers will, however, expect his teammate and fellow midfielder James Ward-Prowse to be in top form following his England snub.
McGinn has been utilised heavily by Emery this season, with the Scot making 13 appearances in all competitions already.
And the 29-year-old’s efforts have been key to the club’s early success on the pitch, with McGinn currently on two goals and one assist.
He was the standout in Villa’s last match before the break, recording four key passes in the 1-1 draw with Wolves earlier this month, twice as many as any other player on the pitch [Sofascore].
And in the game before that, when the Midlands outfit secured a narrow 1-0 Europa Conference League win against Zrinjski Mostar, McGinn was the hero.
The midfielder not only netted the only goal of the game, but he also made one tackle, won two of his three aerial duels and finished the match with an 86% passing accuracy [Sofascore].
In other Aston Villa news, Emery has Jamie Vardy 2.0 sat right under his nose as one Villa youngster makes waves.