Unai Emery ‘has to axe’ Matty Cash at HT for Aston Villa v Manchester City
Unai Emery has to take Matty Cash off at half-time for Aston Villa after being targeted heavily by the Manchester City forward line.
The Villans go in at the break level with the Premier League champions despite going 1-0 down thanks to a Bernardo Silva strike after just eight minutes.
Marcus Rashford levelled the clash from the penalty spot with an ice-cool spot kick after a foul on Jacob Ramsey by Ruben Dias.
This is how the scoreline remained until referee Craig Pawson whistled for the interval, in which Emery may look to replace Cash for the benefit of his side.
Cash struggling v Manchester City
The Poland international has put in a string of positive performances in recent weeks and has certainly earned his spot in the side.
As a result, it was little surprise to see him start once again as Villa travelled to the Etihad in a huge clash in the race for Champions League football.
Although this looked to be the right move from Emery, the 27-year-old has come under constant pressure from Omar Marmoush and has struggled to live with the Egyptian.
This has seen Cash win just one duel on the night while also failing to complete a single tackle against the tricky City forward [FotMob].
The former Frankfurt man played a telling role as the Citizens opened the scoring and could follow suit if given the opportunity in the second half.
| Stat | Omar Marmoush v Aston Villa |
| Chances created | 1 |
| Successful dribbles | 1 |
| Cross accuracy (%) | 100 |
| Duels won | 3 |
The fact that the Villa right back has maintained a zero per cent cross success rate and failed to get forward isn’t likely to help his case at the break.
Aston Villa must continue positive showing v Manchester City
There is no doubt that City have quality and represent a consistent threat, no matter their position in the Premier League table.
This was showcased by the early goal and has been on show at various intervals throughout the first half in Manchester.
The likes of Morgan Rogers and Rashford have worked extremely hard and also look a danger when given the opportunity with the ball.
Villa have looked so good when playing out and need to maintain that moving into the second half Emery wants to secure a huge win at the Etihad.