Nicolo Zaniolo may have revived Aston Villa career after 100% stat emerges v Zrinjski, he looked all set for exit in January
Nicolo Zaniolo hasn’t enjoyed the best of loan spells at Aston Villa of late but his latest display for the club breeds new hope for his immediate future in Birmingham.
Signed on loan from Galatasaray during the summer, after injuries to both Jacob Ramsey and Emilian Buendia, the Italian international was supposed to provide Aston Villa with the cutting-edge influence in attack they needed to progress further this season.
While the Villans have been on track to do so, Zaniolo has proven rather anonymous so far in his Villa career, with the likes of John McGinn, Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins doing most of the dirty work in attack.
In his ten Premier League games so far this season, he’s yet to register a single goal or an assist, has underperformed his expected assists (xA) tally of 0.52, expected goals (xG) of 1.49 and recorded just 0.6 key passes per game, registered zero big chances created and his shots on target per game are pretty woeful with just 0.4 [SofaScore].
His period in an Aston Villa shirt was made all the more concerning when he was forced to withdraw from the Azzurri training camp in Coverciano last month after police questioned him and Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali regarding the recent Serie A betting scandal.
The Aston Villa forward has been questioned by the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office and has continued playing football regularly while his counterpart Tonali is banned from all footballing activities for 18 months.
One of his most concerning Villa displays, the 3-1 win over Luton Town on 29 October further reflected just how much Zaniolo is struggling to acclimatise himself despite his teammates playing with such superb confidence right now.
A booking in the 28th minute was as exciting as it got for the attacker, who touched the ball 28 times but only completed six total passes in the end [Sofascore].
Playing on the left-hand side, creativity is key which Ramsey showed several times last season but Zaniolo has had none of that, attempting two crosses which both failed, as well as completing 0 per cent of his attempted dribbles.
Losing possession eight times in 45 minutes told the full story, with the Italian only winning three of his 11 duels both on the ground and in the air.
In his 45 minutes on the pitch against Nottingham Forest (5 November) it was a similar theme, he had just 23 touches of the ball, recorded a pass accuracy of 78 per cent from the nine passes he played and lost possession 12 times [SofaScore].
However, every player going through a spell as bad as Zaniolo certainly needs one moment or game to spark themselves again and the Italian international had both against Zrinjski on Thursday this week (14 December).
The former Roma attacker scored his first goal for the club in the 1-1 draw that sealed their place in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League but it was his all-round display that will have impressed his manager.
His 100 per cent long-ball accuracy was supported by four attempted crosses, three shots on target and seven attempted dribbles which showed how he looked to make things happen in the final third, also registering two key passes. [Sofascore].
While there is still plenty to be desired from Zaniolo in a Villa shirt, this performance will give him a strong base on which he can build and look to turn in a run of form at Villa Park, starting with the Premier League clash against Brentford on Sunday 17 December in which he has been tipped to start.
It’s crazy how things can change in a footballer’s career and Thursday’s display could certainly be Zaniolo’s turning point when it seemed like his temporary loan at Villa Park was all set to end in January.
In other Aston Villa news, a doctor delivered a new verdict on Tyrone Mings.