Dan Carter

Tue 28 November 2023 8:10, UK

Few would have expected Aston Villa to have started the season just as well as they have, but they returned to Premier League action perfectly with a 2-1 win over Tottenham.

Unai Emery’s side moved into the Champions League places with their win on Sunday (26 November) thanks to a late first-half strike from Pau Torres and a second-half goal from Ollie Watkins allowing them to leapfrog Spurs into fourth.

However, Emery had to show his tactical nouse as he made two changes at the break as he was visibly unhappy with his team’s first-half display, introducing Youri Tielemans and Leon Bailey in a move that earned him praise from Danny Murphy.

Speaking on Match of the Day 2 (27 November) he said: “We said that he had to do something and he always seems to get it right. At halftime, he brought Tielemans on in that little number 10 role.

“Then Bailey came on at halftime for Cash on the right-hand side because he’d had the booking and he does make those correct decisions.”

Bailey’s impact on the game was impressive and the Jamaican international immediately impacted proceedings from the right flank like he so often does. The 26-year-old was lively on the ball, completing three of his four attempted dribbles and driving Emery’s side up the field [Fotmob].

In his 45-minute appearance, he had three shots himself, more than any of Moussa Diaby, John McGinn and Matty Cash managed and the same as Watkins as he constantly looked to test Guglielmo Vicario.

Although only one of his efforts forced a save as the other two were blocked immediately, he registered an xG of 0.23, higher than any other Villa player who didn’t score with 100 per cent of his efforts hitting the target.

When looking to create for his teammates, Bailey completed 87.5 per cent of his 16 attempted passes, only misplacing two efforts and he even managed to register one key pass in the match.

Out of possession, the winger worked incredibly hard having replaced Cash, entering eight duels both on the ground and in the air and while he only came out on top of three of them, he was only dribbled past once in the game and didn’t commit a single foul.

There are few players in Europe’s top five leagues as comfortable on the ball as the Jamaican, who placed in the 98th percentile of forwards for progressive carries per 90, with an average of 4.64. On top of that, he averages 3.35 shot-creating actions a game, more than 89 per cent of his positional peers [Fbref].

Few forwards have a higher expected assist rate in the continent over the last year than Bailey, who averages 0.31 xAG per 90 minutes, placing him the in 98th percentile of his positional peers. The creative influence the winger is having on matches cannot be ignored.

Emery deserves the credit he’s received for introducing the Jamaican when he did against Tottenham, but he has to start Bailey against Bournemouth on Sunday (3 December) in the Premier League, as he has consistently performed from the bench this season.

In other Aston Villa news, Gabby Agbonlahor has heaped praise on Ollie Watkins for his complete display against Tottenham