Aston Villa ready to roar with magic Rashford and Asensio ‘connections’
Aston Villa unleashed both Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio from the start against Liverpool for the first time in the Premier League.
The duo were eagerly anticipated by fans since signing late in the winter transfer window at Villa Park, with both having already shown glimmers of what they can do as substitutes.
Against Liverpool on Wednesday (19 February), Unai Emery opted for a fearsome front four as Asensio and Rashford both started alongside Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers in an open match which finished 2-2.
The decision came to excellent effect as the Villans were bold in attack, turning the game on its head through Youri Tielemans and Watkins after an Andres Garcia error allowed Mo Salah to put the visitors in front, Trent Alexander-Arnold eventually pulling back an equaliser after the break.
Rashford and Asensio already building ‘good connections’
Rashford and Asensio are the calibre of player only a Champions League-level team can immediately bring in during a mid-season transfer window in quick succession.
Despite the two falling out of favour for various reasons at parent clubs Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain, their quality is doubtless.
Rashford very rarely loses the ball for a winger as brazen as himself, even this season only dispossessed 0.61 times per 90 minutes (Fotmob), while Asensio had a scarily high attacking pass success rate of 93.2 per cent during his PSG appearances in 2024-25 (FBRef).
But despite their high quality, the Villans managed the double signing, funding much of their wages having made the best of the lucrative Saudi sale of Jhon Duran – and the pair have already made waves at Villa Park.
Lucy Ward, co-commentating on TNT Sports via which the contest was covered live (19 February), lauded the link-up between the two in the build-up to a goal disallowed for offside during the early stages with the game goalless.
“Good connections down that left-hand side between Rashford and Asensio,” Ward said.
“The running, the give-and-goes, they’ve done it a couple of times. The link-up between them is certainly beginning to develop.
“Villa passing and moving as quickly as that, and it’s a tight one in the end.”
Asensio was perhaps a victim of the competition around him at Real Madrid and he has since been hit-and-miss at PSG, but the 29-year-old Spaniard also registered his best statistics during 2022-23 at the Bernabeu.
Despite only starting in 15 of his 31 La Liga appearances at Real during that particular campaign, Asensio outranked his xG and xA of 5.54 and 4.21 respectively with nine goals and six assists (Sofascore).
Aston Villa play out draw against Liverpool
Aston Villa looked dangerous at times against Liverpool, the contest finishing all square in the end despite a late push to take all three points.
Rashford and Asensio gave supporters a taster of what they can expect to see for the rest of the season against opponents they will create more chances in front of, and both made way with a quarter of the game remaining.
It was an entertaining spectacle at Villa Park, which should bode for an excellent end to the campaign with plenty of competition for places in Emery’s squad.
With three fronts still to be fought on – the Villans remain in both the FA Cup and Champions League – Emery needs to rely on players who can stay fit and robust, and play plenty of minutes.