Unai Emery makes bold Jhon Duran decision as Aston Villa XI confirmed v Bournemouth
Unai Emery has made the decision to drop Jhon Duran as Aston Villa prepare to face Bournemouth on Saturday (26 October).
The manager has made four changes from the side that beat Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League, with, Ian Maatsen, Diego Carlos, Leon Baily and Duran all dropped.
In their places, Matty Cash, Lucas Digne, Jacob Ramsey and Ollie Watkins are all restored to the starting lineup, but fans will feel Emery is walking a tightrope with one of his strikers now.
Duran made his feelings known after being substituted against Bologna, kicking the seats and throwing a tantrum, having scored in the 2-0 win on Tuesday 22 October.
With the young Colombian now dropped completely, and still yet to make his first start in the Premier League this season, he is likely to be fuming with the manager’s decision.
Jhon Duran replaced by Ollie Watkins ahead of Aston Villa v Bournemouth
Emery will hope his side can continue its form in all competitions, having risen to the top of the new Champions League table after victories over Young Boyes, Bayern Munich and Bologna.
Watkins is, of course, still the first choice at Villa Park, having notched five goals and two assists in the league so far, but Duran has impressed off the bench in recent weeks.
Against Bologna, the striker maintained a 100 per cent shot accuracy, scoring with one of his two shots, completing 100 per cent of his dribbles, making one recovery and winning 60 per cent of his aerial duels [FotMob].
Despite making many of his appearances off the bench, Duran ranks in the top 99 percentile for non-penalty goals per 90 minutes [FBref], proving his ability as an impact substitute.
This will go into the manager’s thinking, hoping to bring the player on when the opposition defence are knackered, also ranking in the top 88 percentile for touches in the attacking penalty area.
The 20-year-old is a complete nuisance in the final third, ranking in the top 90 percentile for tackles, the top 88 percentile for aerials won, and the top 91 percentile for blocks.
Considering all of this, it is understandable that Duran wants to be starting every game, but with Watkins snapping at his heels, Emery has a difficult headache to deal with.
In other Aston Villa news, Chris Sutton has hit back at “nonsense” Emi Martinez claims as a new argument emerged.
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