TNT Sport pundit blown away by what Aston Villa ‘menace’ Leon Bailey did in loss v Olympiacos
Aston Villa were far from their best as they crashed out of the Europa Conference League with a 2-0 defeat away to Olympiacos.
Unai Emery’s side had given themselves plenty of work to do having lost the first leg at Villa Park, but were flat and uninspired as they failed to test their Greek opponents on Thursday (9 May) night to end their European journey.
While Villa really struggled going forward with the likes of Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby failing to get particularly involved in proceedings, Leon Bailey had another excellent night and blew TNT Sports’s Lucy Ward away.
Speaking on TNT Sports 1 (9 May, 20:49) she said: “That’s a terrific save. A real menace about Bailey in that shot. He got a bit of space and it got a bit of a deflection but the goalkeeper did so well. Great improvisation from him.”
Will Leon Bailey leave Aston Villa during the summer transfer window at Villa Park?
While Bailey wasn’t able to find an all-important goal, he did provide a constant threat down the right flank. The 26-year-old completed 76 per cent of his 33 attempted passes with his 54 touches, three of which found a teammate in the final third, according to Fotmob.
On top of that, the Jamaican international put three goal-scoring chances on a plate for his teammates and would have been perplexed as he left the field without an assits despite producing an xA rate of 0.71.
A majority of that came from his excellent deliveries from wide areas. Before he was substituted in the closing exchanges, Bailey attempted six crosses and managed to find a teammate with 60 per cent of his efforts.
When compared to other wingers in the Conference League this term, the Villans star sits in the top 11 per cent of players for shot-creating actions per 90 minutes, with an average of 3.94 a game, according to Fbref.
More often than not as well, those chances are converted by his teammates. Compared to his positional peers, the 26-year-old lies in the 97th percentile for assits per game with an average of 0.53 a match.
The Villa winger would have expected to find the net himself on Thursday as he had four shots on goal, the best of which came in the final moments of the first half as his menacing strike which possesses an xGOT of 0.31 was well clawed away.
Without the ball, the 26-year-old worked just as hard entering eight duels both in the air and on the ground, winning the ball in 50 per cent of his battles whilst only committing one single foul in the clash.
To top off his workmanlike performance, the Jamaican international registered a remarkable five ball recoveries as he repeatedly worked back to cover Matty Cash when he ventured forward, to little avail.
Will Villa qualify for the Champions League under Unai Emery?
With Morgan Rogers’ season now potentially over and Emi Buendia still stuck on the treatment table, Emery is running out of options to start out wide and that is why Bailey simply has to start in the final games of the season.
The Jamaican international should be undroppable, especially given Diaby’s recent struggles. If he doesn’t start against Liverpool, the Villans may be risking their place in the Champions League next term.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery is “ready to spend” ahead of the summer transfer window at Villa Park after agreeing on a club-record deal
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