Sky Sports pundit blown away by what ‘fantastic’ Robin Olsen did for Aston Villa v Brighton
Aston Villa and Unai Emery will have been disappointed to suffer a new blow to their hopes of Champions League qualification with a defeat to Brighton.
The Villans were nowhere near their best on the south coast on Sunday (5 May) as they were beaten 1-0 by Robert De Zerbi’s side, with Joao Pedro’s late header ensuring all three points stayed with the Seagulls.
Pedro was denied from the spot by Robin Olsen before heading home the rebound and while the Swede would have been disappointed to have lost his clean sheet, Sky pundit Jamie O’Hara was quick to praise his work between the posts.
Speaking on Sky Sports News (5 May, 15:25) he said: “Joao Pedro just got in behind, drove through and got into the box and really Olsen made a great save down to his left. A fantastic save from Joao Pedro.”
Will Unai Emery start Emi Martinez for Aston Villa against Olympiacos?
Most Villa fans would have been disappointed to not see Emi Martinez in the starting XI after Emery hinted he could be fit to start on Sunday, but Olsen showed that he is more than capable of impressing when needed.
The Villa keeper kept it simple in possession, completing 98 per cent of his 42 attempted passes and even managed to find a teammate in claret and blue with two of his three long-range efforts, according to Fotmob.
But most of Olsen’s impressive work came between the sticks where he faced an xG of 3.09 in the match and only conceded once as he made seven saves to keep Villa in the game as they were put under immense pressure.
Three of those saves saw the 34-year-old dive to deny the forwards and six of those efforts saw him make an intervention inside the penalty area. He literally couldn’t have done any more to keep his clean sheet intact.
Against Olympiacos last time out, Olsen did struggle conceding four times from an xG of 2.03 as he only made one save in the match, but his performance against the Seagulls showed he deserves another chance to prove his worth.
Even against Chelsea in the last Premier League outing, the Villa reserve stopper saved from Cole Palmer in added time to earn Villa a vital point. That effort had an xG of 0.34, but the 34-year-old had no right to stop it.
Martinez has been impressive form himself this term. When compared to other keepers in the League, he sits in the top 11 per cent for expected goals faced compared to goals against, over-performing by an average of 0.21 goals every 90 minutes, according to Fbref.
But with two huge Premier League games on the horizon against Liverpool and Crystal Palace, Emery should allow the Argentine to rest and recover fully and stick with Olsen between the sticks against Olympiacos.
His display against Brighton was more than worthy of another start and it would be doing him a disservice to axe him from the starting XI even if Martinez is fit to start.
In other Aston Villa news, Tim Iroegbunam has been tipped to snub a move to Ajax this summer after updates at Villa Park
For more Aston Villa news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.