Unai Emery has obvious first choice as Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey Aston Villa dilemma put to bed
Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey was perhaps fearing the worst when Unai Emery decided to bring fellow attacker Moussa Diaby to the club.
The latter made the switch to Villa Park from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, immediately landing a place in the starting XI.
And he certainly justified that spot early on, with Diaby now on four goals and five assists from his 24 Villa appearances.
But having played right-wing for the majority of his time in Germany, it is a more central role that Emery has chosen for Diaby in England.
And that has allowed Bailey to be selected in the starting XI alongside him, with the Jamaican international more brightly with eight goals and eight assists from his 23 appearances.
Such figures have resulted in Bailey boasting a record of 1.46 direct goal involvements per 90 minutes, with that figure placing him top of the list [official Premier League website, 21 December].
Manchester City star Erling Haaland is behind him on 1.25, with Newcastle United ace Callum Wilson in third with 1.21.
Moreover, only four Premier League players are attempting more dribbles per match than Bailey at this moment in time, while the Jamaican is simply outshining his own teammate Diaby in various areas per 90 minutes.
The former boasts a minutes per goal/assist total of 61.9 and has 3.07 shots per 90 at a conversion rate of 31.25%. The latter is behind in all three areas, with figures of 161.4, 2.23 and 15.79% respectively. He is, however, ahead in terms of chances created in open play, with 2.07 to Bailey’s 2.05.
But again it is the Jamaican who leads the way in both dribbles attempted and open play crosses, with tallies of 6.28 and 2.78 respectively, with Diaby on 2.55 and 1.99 respectively.
Diaby may have ambitions to return to a right-sided role, but Emery has a clear winner in that position, meaning the summer signing must continue to settle for a central position.
In other Aston Villa news, an 86% Aston Villa ace has given Emery a headache after what happened in the 2-1 win against Brentford.