Dan Carter

Sat 30 December 2023 15:54, UK

After a tough Boxing Day defeat to Manchester United, Aston Villa have bounced back in reasonable fashion during the first half of their clash with Burnley.

Villa welcomed Vincent Kompany’s side to Villa Park on Saturday (30 December) and Unai Emery’s side were impressive during the first half but only managed to head into the break 2-1 up thanks to goals from Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby.

One man who provided a real threat for Emery’s side in the opening 45 minutes was Alex Moreno with the Spanish left-back carving out a couple of excellent opportunities for Aston Villa and his performance blew Sky Sports pundit Steve Sidwell away.

Speaking on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday (30 December, 15:20) he said: “Half chance for Aston Villa, Moreno does unbelievably well down the left-hand side. He gets in line with the six-yard box and fizzes the ball across.

“Ollie Watkins, it’s there to tap in, just takes his eye off of it, misses the ball completely.”

While Aston Villa dominated possession during the first half of their clash with Burnley on Saturday, registering an impressive 62 per cent of the ball, Moreno didn’t see a huge amount of it out on the left flank [Fotmob].

In the opening 45 minutes, the 30-year-old only registered 13 touches of the ball, but two of them came in the opposition’s penalty area as he managed to provide a real attacking threat from the left-hand side of the pitch for Aston Villa.

With those nine touches, Moreno managed to complete 80 per cent of his nine attempted passes and one of his four completed efforts was the inch-perfect cross to set Watkins up to break the deadlock.

On top of that, the Aston Villa fullback demonstrated his excellent range of passing as he completed 100 per cent of his attempted long passes in the half.

The ball into the penalty area from the Spaniard carried an incredibly high expected assist rate of 0.11 and the Aston Villa striker really should have broken the deadlock had he not missed the ball in its entirety, instead kicking the air.

When compared to his positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues over the last year, Moreno sits in the 93rd percentile for expected assisted goals per match and the top six per cent for crosses and passes into the penalty area [Fbref].

However, Villa’s forward options have not always taken their chances, with the 30-year-old only sitting in the 81st percentile for actual assists per 90 minutes.

While Lucas Digne has impressed so far this season when he’s featured for Aston Villa, should Moreno maintain his recent form he may well be able to leapfrog the Frenchman while he’s sidelined and now become Villa’s first-choice left-back.

In other Aston Villa news, Andy Gray has called for Leander Dendoncker to be fined following an incident against Manchester United