Unai Emery must drop Aston Villa star John McGinn after ever-present start and injury scare
The international break is over and Aston Villa are preparing for their return to Premier League action with a trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday 26 November.
Unai Emery’s side will be looking to continue their excellent start to the season and could move into the Champions League places with a win over Spurs, as they currently sit a single point behind Ange Postecoglou’s side in fifth.
It had appeared as though Unai Emery would be without his captain in midfield, after John McGinn hobbled off late in Scotland’s draw with Norway on Sunday (19 November) but the latest suggestion is that the 29-year-old could be fit enough to feature against Spurs.
According to Tom Collomosse (23 November), the midfielder has been assessed by Villa’s medics and there is growing “optimism” that he will be able to make the trip to North London, despite the initial injury fears.
As much as a relief as that will be for Aston Villa supporters, it will be music to the ears of Emery who has deployed the midfielder whenever possible this season. McGinn has started all 12 of Villa’s Premier League games, playing 1020 minutes, meaning he’s only missed an hour of league action this season.
In Europe, the 29-year-old has started and played 89 per cent of Villa’s Europa Conference League group matches, while he also played the first half of Emery’s side’s only outing in the Carabao Cup this season. Even when Villa made changes in the Conference League qualifiers, McGinn played 75 per cent of the minutes against Hibernian.
Across all competitions, McGinn has played 1521 of the 1710 minutes that Aston Villa have played so far this season, or 88.9 per cent of the current campaign. It is clear that whenever he is fit, Emery wants the Scotsman in his starting XI.
The Spaniard has a good reason for it as few midfielders in the Premier League have proven to carry as much of a goal threat as the Villa captain.
Compared to his positional peers in England’s top flight this year, McGinn places in the top nine per cent for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes, despite only taking an average of 1.06 shots a game [Fbref]. The Scottish international is also a creative force, falling in the 87th percentile for assists per 90 minutes.
McGinn averages 3.63 shot-creating actions per match, a figure better than 76 per cent of the Premier League’s midfielders and has proven incredibly hard to dispossess this season. He placed in the 94th percentile of his positional peers for successful take-ons.
However, Emery must ensure that McGinn doesn’t burn out this season because he has played too much football. McGinn has regularly made upwards of 35 starts in a season for Villa both in the Championship and the Premier League, but he has never had to contend with European football.
Even if Villa didn’t make it out of their group, they would have played an extra 720 minutes of football this season than last, including the qualifiers against Hibs. While the temptation will be to start McGinn against Spurs, Emery could do worse than give his captain a rest, especially after his scare during the international break.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery cannot start Bailey after his 31 per cent stinker on international duty