Unai Emery must axe Lucas Digne after Aston Villa display v Leicester City
Unai Emery could drop Lucas Digne from the Aston Villa starting XI after his performance in the 2-1 win against Leicester City.
The Villans secured three points on Saturday (4 January) but fans witnessed far from a vintage performance at Villa Park.
Goals from Ross Barkley and Leon Bailey were enough to cancel out Stephy Mavididi’s equaliser despite a late push from Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side.
Ultimately a change from Emery made the difference and is one that the Spaniard could carry through to future games, much to the detriment of Digne.
Unai Emery to axe Lucas Digne for Aston Villa
The France international has had a largely superb season in B6, keeping out Ian Maatsen who joined from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
After the win over the Foxes, it could be time that the torch was passed to the Dutch left back for the upcoming fixtures.
The ex-Chelsea man came on and grabbed an assist for Bailey’s winner, proving himself to be much better than his 31-year-old counterpart.
Digne registered 78 touches across his 76-minute cameo but was unable to create a chance or have a single touch in the Leicester penalty area [FotMob].
The former Everton defender is famed for his crossing but with five attempts and a zero per cent completion rate, it was not a day to remember in that respect.
The starting left-back’s defensive work wasn’t any better as he won just 33 per cent of his attempted tackles and lost three duels which isn’t good enough against any side, never mind a relegation-threatened outfit.
Emery certainly has a decision to make for upcoming fixtures against West Ham and Everton but Maatsen will surely be given a deserved chance to impress.
In other Aston Villa news, Lee Hendrie has reacted to the controversy from the win against Leicester City.
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