Aston Villa: Nicolo Zaniolo gives Unai Emery Lille headache after Arsenal showing
Unai Emery has an Aston Villa selection dilemma as he has to decide whether Nicolo Zaniolo will keep his place against Lille following his Arsenal performance.
The Villans took a vital three points away from The Emirates in a famous win which keeps them in the driving seat for a Champions League spot.
After weathering a storm in the first half, Emery’s side dominated the second half and deservedly took the lead through Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins.
Now attention will turn to Europe as Villa travel to France to face Lille on Thursday (18 April) knowing they have a 2-1 aggregate lead going into it.
With the race for top four in full swing, Emery has to decide whether he should rest players or keep a similar team to the one that won at Arsenal.
Should Nicolo Zaniolo start for Aston Villa v Lille?
One of the shock performances of the day saw Zaniolo put in a superb showing to dominate Ben White down Villa’s left flank.
The Italian has had a chequered season since his loan move from Galatasaray which has seen him score just two goals. Both have been clutch equalisers against Sheffield United and West Ham United, however.
Against Arsenal, the 24-year-old showed his class with a positive performance going forward but was even better in a defensive sense.
Offensively, he made 16 passes with a 70 per cent accuracy rate and with that created a chance for his teammates. Despite just completing two dribbles in the game, he certainly had a good impact [FotMob].
On the defensive side of his game, he helped limit the effectiveness of White and Buyako Saka. He won a tackle, won six duels with an aerial win rate of 100 per cent. Five defensive actions summed up his hard-working performance.
Moving into the Lille clash, against a potentially “easier” opponent, there may be less need for Zaniolo to start the game. Featuring the returning Douglas Luiz and having John McGinn in that wide midfield role could be more beneficial.
In other Aston Villa news, Ben Foster has been blown away by Boubacar Kamara despite a “horrible” development.
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