Gary Neville destroys Aston Villa ‘shocker’ Diego Carlos for incident in showdown v Liverpool
Aston Villa will have to wait to secure their place in next season’s Champions League following their Premier League draw with Liverpool.
Unai Emery’s side was saved by a late brace from second-half substitute Jhon Duran to draw 3-3 at Villa Park on Monday (13 May) with a calamitous own goal from Emi Martinez being cancelled out by the striker’s heroics.
While Martinez’s blunder was perhaps the worst of the errors made by anyone in Villa colours, Gary Neville was quick to slam Diego Carlos for his “unbelievable” miss in the first half that would have levelled things.
Speaking on Sky Sports Main Event (13 May, 21:05) he said: “Oh my god do you know something, it’s a bad miss, it’s a shocker but he actually nudges Watkins out of the way.
“On the way in, watch him, it’s unbelievable. He shrugs him out of the way with his left arm.”
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It was harder for Carlos to miss that chance than it would have been to score it. According to Fotmob, the 31-year-old’s effort possessed an xG of 0.99, meaning he would only miss that chance once in 100 attempts.
That miss summed up the Villa defender’s evening at Villa Park as he struggled to impact proceedings. Although he completed 93 per cent of his 54 attempted passes, only five of those efforts found a teammate in the final third.
Carlos was even less consistent when passing over a long range as he only found a teammate in claret and blue with 50 per cent of his six efforts over an extended distance in a slightly reckless display.
But it was out of possession where the 31-year-old really looked out of his depth. The Brazilian didn’t enter a single tackle in the game and only managed to make three ball recoveries.
On top of that, the Villa man lost 100 per cent of his six ground duels, committing four fouls in the process as he repeatedly failed to contain the likes of Luiz Diaz, Gakpo and Mohammed Salah as they bore down on goal.
Carlos was just as weak in the air, winning only 33 per cent of his three aerial battles. Although Liverpool’s attack is littered with excellent players, it is unforgivable to see the centre-back look so helpless in such a big game.
As was pointed out in the build-up to the game, the 31-year-old is one of many Villa centre-backs who struggles in the air.
When compared to his positional peers in the Premier League, he lies in the seventh percentile for percentage of aerials won per game, with an average of 45.5 per cent, according to Fbref.
The Brazilian also tends to make more mistakes leading to goals than most of the division’s centre-backs as he sits in the bottom five per cent for errors leading to goals per 90 minutes. When he’s good he can be excellent, but he makes big mistakes far too often.
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Had Carlos scored in the first half, Villa would have claimed all three points and booked their place in the Premier League thanks to the late goals from Duran. If Tottenham somehow beat Manchester City, that miss could haunt Emery’s side.
With Clement Lenglet watching from the bench and even Calum Chambers returning to the fold from the bench, it could be worth taking Carlos out of the firing line to ensure their place in the top four.
In other Aston Villa news, Villa are ready to spend in the summer transfer window after agreeing a club-record sponsorship deal
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