Aston Villa boss Unai Emery must turn to ‘out of this world’ Diego Carlos at half-time to win v Chelsea
Unai Emery must turn to his bench to help Aston Villa secure all three points against Chelsea with Diego Carlos waiting in the wings to make an impact in place of Ezri Konsa.
While Villa headed into half-time with a 2-0 lead courtesy of an own goal from Marc Cucurella and a strike from Morgan Rogers, the half has not come without its risky moments for the home side.
Nicolas Jackson saw a goal disallowed for offside when his run in behind appeared to breach Villa’s high line, but the introduction of Carlos could assist in that department.
Ally McCoist had been especially impressed with the Brazilian as, speaking on talkSPORT [19 April] he said: “I’ll tell you who was brilliant at the weekend, the big centre-back [Carlos]. Oh man alive, I thought he was out of this world.”
Diego Carlos could make the difference in Aston Villa v Chelsea
A move for Carlos to replace Konsa by coming into the middle could help to cover the danger in behind after the centre-back struggled at times during the opening 45 minutes.
Carlos was outstanding in his last start against Arsenal as he recorded a 92 per cent passing accuracy, recording 66 touches and attempting four long passes as Emery’s side managed to retain 48 per cent of the possession against the title challengers. [Sofascore]
On top of that, the Brazilian made two tackles, one block, one interception and one last-man tackle as his exceptional defensive display played a crucial role in keeping a clean sheet against the odds away from home.
Meanwhile, Konsa recorded just six passes in the first half, failing to win a single aerial duel with a 0 per cent success rate and lost possession once, while the threat of Jackson was made clear by the disallowed effort. [Sofascore]
With Villa going into half-time 2-0 up, they must make sure they avoid any slips against a Chelsea team who conceded five to Arsenal in the week by ensuring they do not risk conceding from the dangerous passes in behind.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery was warned he may regret dropping a star player.
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