Lucas Digne makes point to Emery after what Aston Villa ace did last night
Lucas Digne has left Unai Emery with a selection dilemma regarding the Aston Villa starting left-back spot after what he did for France in their game against Belgium on Monday (12 October).
Didier Deschamps’ men beat their European rivals 2-1 in the Nations League and now find themselves second in the table.
Digne played the full 90 minutes and was in stellar form, leaving Emery with something of a selection headache upon his return to Villa Park.
Aston Villa should give Lucas Digne a run in left-back
Since Ian Maatsen was signed from Chelsea for £37.5million in the summer, Emery has chosen to rotate between the Dutchman and Digne with the latter getting the nod more often than not.
However, despite murmurs of Digne potentially leaving in the summer after Maatsen’s arrival, Dan Bardell believes the Frenchman has since knuckled down and cemented his spot in the starting 11 with this international performance no doubt helping.
As per Sofascore, the left-back played the full 90 minutes of the clash and was defensively solid.
He managed three clearances, two interceptions, four tackles and even managed to bag himself an assist.
He was one of France’s best players on the night and further cemented his claim for the Villans’ starting spot.
Digne also won 62 per cent of his ground duels on the night, which shows how strong he was when one-on-one with his opponents.
He did manage to lose possession of the ball 19 times but when you’re as involved as he was in a game of football, losing the ball a few times is expected.
Alongside the assist he got himself, he finished the clash with an 80 per cent pass accuracy and ended up with two key passes.
This international performance shows how strong of an asset he is to Villa and it also outlines why Emery has chosen Digne over Maatsen on more than one occasion this term.
The season is still young of course and things could change but after this statement on the international stage, Emery would be silly to not continue using Digne at left-back for the foreseeable future.
In other Aston Villa news, Dan Bardell has shared his verdict on the performances of Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey.
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