Aston Villa player faces bad news as Unai Emery shares new injury update
Jaden Philogene is surely now set to drop out of the Aston Villa starting line-up following confirmation of John McGinn’s imminent return to action.
The summer signing from Hull City has started the Villans’ past two matches – the famous win over Bayern Munich and 0-0 draw with Manchester United.
Philogene has been used on the left and right of Unai Emery’s three-man attacking midfield to mixed success in those two outings.
However, speaking after the stalemate with Man United on Sunday (6 October), Emery said he is hopeful McGinn will soon return to training.
As reported by The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell on X [6 October], McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana are each in contention to be back for Villa’s next game.
John McGinn must return straight to Aston Villa XI v Fulham
Philogene is the obvious option to make way once McGinn returns and there is no doubt the Scotland international should slot straight back in.
As per WhoScored, McGinn has averaged 0.8 dribbles per game across his five Premier League appearances this season.
Philogene, by comparison, has averaged 0.3 in his 133 minutes on the field – enough time to gauge a general feel for his game.
Indeed, in the Man United game, Philogene completed only one of the two dribbles he attempted for a 50-per-cent completion rate [Sofascore].
This is not to say Philogene deserves to be dropped against Fulham, as such, but more that McGinn simply has to start if fit and available.
Perhaps one trait that goes under the radar is that McGinn averages 5.33 progressive passes – forward passes of 10 yards – per 90 minutes.
As per FBref, that ranks him among the top 14 per cent of all attacking midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues.
McGinn can also cover the defensive side of things, as highlighted by his 0.66 interceptions per 90, ranking him in the top 15 percentile.
Having missed Villa’s past four matches, Emery will be grateful to have his captain back available, hopefully in the coming days.
In other Aston Villa news, here is how each player rated out of 10 against Manchester United.
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