Pau Torres finally proves Aston Villa worth after performance v Luton Town
Pau Torres finally proved his worth for Aston Villa with his display in the victory over Luton Town on Sunday (29 October).
The 26-year-old centre-back was solid throughout the afternoon as Villa claimed a 3-1 win over the Hatters, with John McGinn and Moussa Diaby getting on the scoresheet alongside own goals from Tom Lockyer and Emiliano Martinez.
It was one of the Spanish international’s better performances in a Villans shirt since signing from Villarreal for a big-money fee over the summer.
Although it’s been a strong start to the campaign for Villa, Torres hasn’t been entirely convincing during his first couple of months at the club.
He came to Birmingham with a big reputation following a number of impressive displays in La Liga after attracting interest from some of Europe football’s biggest sides.
The defender has struggled to match the physicality posed by several Premier League strikers he has come up against and his passing hasn’t always been as accurate as he would’ve liked.
But that wasn’t the case against Luton as, despite coming up against a physical side, he rose to the challenge and really stood out in the heart of the backline.
The Spaniard was handed a 7.5 rating for his performance by SofaScore – the most of any defender on the pitch for either side.
He made three clearances, two interceptions and one block throughout the 90 minutes to help Villa to a victory against the Hatters.
Torres also won six of the nine duels he was involved in, including five out of seven in the air despite coming up against a strikeforce that often wins a lot of aerial duels.
He had 109 touches across the afternoon as he looked comfortable on the ball, recording a pass success rate of 95 per cent after finding a teammate with 92 of his 97 passes.
The centre-back lost the ball on just six occasions and he was also successful with the one dribble that he attempted.
It was a much better performance from him overall as he showed exactly why Unai Emery was keen to bring him to Villa Park this season.
In other Aston Villa news, the club are plotting a move for a Euro forward following a stand-off over his contract.