Anthony Onifade

Tue 2 January 2024 7:10, UK

Lucas Digne’s injury blow at Aston Villa looked to have been the perfect opportunity for Alex Moreno but the January winter may ruin his chance to win back his permanent place.

The left-back sustained a hamstring injury against Liverpool at Anfield back in May and hadn’t featured for Villa before his first start of the campaign against Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League on 30 November.

The Spaniard scored his first Aston Villa goal in the 2-1 win at Villa Park and grabbed another in a 2-1 win over Brentford in the Premier League (17 December).

It certainly seemed as if the Spaniard may well have been getting back to the tremendous form he showed before his injury last season.

Moreno made 19 Premier League appearances after becoming boss Emery’s first signing when he joined in a £13million move from Real Betis in January 2023 [Sky Sports] establishing himself as a regular starter before his injury.

The former Real Betis man was terrific for the Villans last season, recording three assists from his 19 league appearances, topping his expected assists (xA) of 2.58, averaging 1.2 key passes, completing 46% of his dribbles and also averaging 1.2 tackles per game [SofaScore].

According to the Opta-powered stats at FBREF, over the last year, out of every full-back in the top five European leagues, Moreno ranked at one stage in the 96th percentile of players for progressive carries (3.87) and the top 20% of his counterparts for progressive passes received (6.16 per 90) and successful take-ons (1.24 per 90).

Moreno’s attacking qualities have been well documented, and in an Aston Villa side that alters their tactical framework to allow their full-backs to bomb forward, his addition to Emery’s ranks had proven the perfect match.

His form during the 22/23 campaign had ushered big-money signing Digne out of the picture but the Spaniard’s injury presented the Frenchman with the chance to stake a claim to Emery and he took it.

Even with Moreno’s goalscoring form after his injury return, Digne was always Emery’s go-to man. Since Moreno’s return, he’s only made two starts in the Premier League with his latest coming in the 3-2 over Burnley after Digne’s in-game blow against Manchester United.

Against the Clarets, the former Betis man was rather impressive, winning 80 per cent of his ground duels, registering two key passes, registering two clearances, and completing over 70 per cent of his passes [SofaScore].

Whether that display is enough to convince Emery that he deserves to usurp Digne again remains another matter. However, Moreno certainly needs games to do that.

The bad news for the 30-year-old though is that Villa only play three times this month with the January break approaching, it comes at a poor time for the Spaniard.

Also, Digne is expected to return before the end of the month, according to Injury Expert Ben Dinnery [31 December].

Is three games enough for Moreno to re-stake his claim for a permanent place again? Probably not, but he will need to recapture the performance levels and form in order for that to happen.

The FA Cup game against Middlesbrough (6 January), and Premier League games against Everton (14 January) and at home to Newcastle United (30 January) still present a glimmer of hope for Moreno to find himself consistently in the Villa Park spotlight again.

In other Aston Villa news, a doctor delivered a new verdict on Tyrone Mings.