Unai Emery must address concerning Premier League stat to avoid Aston Villa sack
Unai Emery has done an incredible job as Aston Villa manager, but his start to the new Premier League campaign has been far from ideal.
Villa’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace before the international break marked their second defeat in their opening three games.
With just one point on the board, supporters will be hoping deadline day signings Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho can help turn the Villans’ fortunes around.
However, if Emery wants to keep his job in B6, he will have to get more of a tune out of his frontline, as a concerning stat regarding Villa’s attack has emerged.
Aston Villa have the joint-lowest xG per shot this season
Morgan Rogers is just one member of Villa’s frontline who has simply not been at the races so far this season, but with Rogers’ latest performance for England being praised by Gary Lineker, this could all be about to change.
If the likes of Rogers and Elliott can get going, it will only be a matter of time before Villa score their first goal of the season.
As the only side in the division to not have scored in the opening three games, unsurprisingly, their Opta attacking statistics do not make for great reading.
Everyone will be well aware that Villa have a 0% conversion rate, but perhaps what is more concerning is the fact that Villa are the joint-worst team in the Premier League with Wolves when it comes to their xG per shot.
- Villa and Wolves have an xG per shot of 0.08
- This confirms that of the few chances that Villa have created this season, they have been poor-quality ones
- There is no coincidence that both Wolves and Villa sit 20th and 19th in the table when they are the owners of such an unwanted statistic
If this lack of creativity continues, even a world-class manager like Emery could run the risk of losing his job.
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Still more concerns regarding Villa’s attacking data
Alongside the aforementioned statistic, Villa have created 2.53 xG so far this season, with only Wolves ranking lower.
It’s been largely accepted within the fanbase that Villa are unlikely to qualify for the Champions League again, but they are more than capable of sneaking into the Europa or Conference League.
If Emery and Co. want to keep Villa as an established European outfit, the Spaniard will know he has to get more out of his attackers.
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