Sky Sports pundit tears into Aston Villa ‘nightmare’ Lucas Digne for what he did v Liverpool
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery would have been disappointed to see his side head into the break behind against Liverpool.
The Villans ended the first half at Villa Park 2-1 down to Jurgen Klopp’s side on Monday (13 May) after a major error early in the clash from Emi Martinez and a tap-in from Cody Gakpo ensured the Reds had the lead.
While the Argentine stopper was the centre of most criticism from fans and pundits alike in the first half, Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith was quick to slam Lucas Digne for his terrible start to the game.
Speaking on Sky Sports Main Event (13 May, 20:11) he said: “Lucas Digne on that far side, I don’t know what’s going on with him.
“He’s having an absolute nightmare this first 10 minutes.”
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The Frenchman has been a regular in the Villa starting XI recently because of Alex Moreno’s injury issues but he looked massively off of the pace against Klopp’s side in the first half on Monday.
In possession, the usually reliable 30-year-old only completed 78 per cent of his 27 attempted passes, only three of which found a teammate in the final third as he struggled to deal with the pressure from Mohammed Salah, according to Fotmob.
The left-back was guilty of really struggling when passing over a long range in particular as he failed to find a teammate in claret and blue with any of his two attempted long balls in the opening exchanges.
Without the ball, the Frenchman was really exposed as Salah repeatedly got the better of him and while Digne managed to win 60 per cent of his ground duels, he seemed to constantly lose sight of the Egyptian winger.
When compared to other fullbacks in the Premier League this season, the former Everton man sits in the bottom 10 per cent for tackles won per game with an average of 0.73 every 90 minutes, according to Fbref.
While he very rarely wins the ball, the French defender has also been guilty of being too passive when facing a winger, sitting in the 33rd percentile of his positional peers when it comes to how many dribblers he challenges a game.
Digne hasn’t always been able to win the ball back when he is beaten this term either and actually sits in the bottom 12 per cent of fullbacks for ball recoveries made per 90 minutes, averaging only 3.75 a match.
More often than not, the Villa star makes up for his defensive frailties with his work in possession where he sits in the top 18 per cent of players or expected assits made per game, but he didn’t manage to venture forward in the first half on Monday.
With Moreno out injured, Emery doesn’t have many alternative options to turn to from the bench, but he simply has to get somebody else on the field to take Digne out of the firing line or risk missing out on the Champions League.
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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