Aston Villa: Diego Carlos at risk at being axed by Unai Emery as Arsenal update emerges
Diego Carlos needs to improve defensively or he could be dropped for Aston Villa by Unai Emery once Matty Cash returns to the starting line-up after his injury.
It has been a shaky few weeks for the Villans in a defensive sense with crosses and set pieces taking their toll on the goal difference. This has drawn criticism and many players have been questioned for their part to play in these moments.
This has hampered Villa in their pursuit of a Champions League spot and also halved the deficit in the Conference League quarter-final.
With that being said, it won’t be long before Emery starts to make big decisions and drop big names from his side for their performances.
Unai Emery may drop Diego Carlos for Aston Villa performances
The Brazilian signed for Villa back in 2022 for a large sum of £26m [Sky Sports] but a long-term injury hampered his first season with the club.
He has come back into the first-team fold following his return and has had some colossal performances this season.
Up against the world class, Erling Haaland the Villa man was outstanding and didn’t give the treble winners a minute’s peace.
Although this might be the case, he has underperformed recently. He was part of the defence that conceded four to Manchester City and he failed to complete any of his four attempted tackles, according to FotMob.
Carlos followed this up with a rather disastrous showing against Brentford as the Villans conceded three in nine minutes. This game saw him lose 80 per cent of his ground and 50 per cent aerial duels, simply not good enough [FotMob].
His positioning for at least two of the Bees’ goals was extremely poor and ended up costing Emery an important three points for the run-in.
The 31-year-old was at fault once again against Lille as he lost his man from a corner, resulting in Bafode Diakite halving the deficit.
There is a great quality player there but if he is to keep his place in the side he will need to buck up his ideas and cut out silly mistakes.
With Cash returning to the matchday squad against Arsenal on Sunday (14 April), Ezri Konsa taking the Brazilian’s spot at right centre-back could be on the cards. He now has to prove himself to Emery in the coming games.
In other Aston Villa news, a new contract is on the table for Douglas Luiz.
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