Ross Barkley simply has to start as injury news continues to plague Aston Villa
Ross Barkley should be starting in a midfield three for Aston Villa right now.
The Englishman started on the bench against Leeds United and watched on as Anton Stach scored a top-class free kick to give the away side a 1-0 lead.
Unai Emery sent the 32-year-old on to help the Villans go on to secure a 1-1 draw as Tammy Abraham grabbed a late equaliser.
The midfielder made a positive difference alongside Jadon Sancho and certainly helped the Villa Park outfit to come back to at least snatch a point.
The claret and blue outfit now has a clash coming up against Wolves, and Barkley needs to start if the B6 outfit wants to secure a positive result.
Ross Barkley was massively impactful vs Leeds United
There were questions aimed towards Emery when Amadou Onana was hooked on 61 minutes to be replaced by the ex-Everton man.
Taking off Douglas Luiz appeared to be the better option on the day, but the Brazilian remained on the pitch for a further 26 minutes.
Barkley managed to outshine the winter signing in just over half an hour as he managed to complete 25 passes, with six of them going into the final third against Leeds.
That helped to push Villa on and create plenty of chances, especially with the midfielder completing 100 per cent of his attempted dribbles.
He was also effective defensively as he won eight duels and chipped in with three defensive actions in the final stages at Villa Park.
Those involvements are positive, but it is his progressive passing numbers that catch the eye and mean he has to start, especially with Youri Tielemans out injured.
Barkley is the ideal Youri Tielemans alternative at Aston Villa
In late January, it was confirmed that the Belgium international would miss up to 10 weeks of action in claret and blue with an ankle injury.
The 28-year-old is a huge miss for Emery’s side as no one else truly has the ability to break the lines like he can for the Villans.
He looks unlikely to return until mid-April, leaving Villa with around two months to cover for Tielemans, and Barkley could be the ideal option within the squad.
The Englishman could feature alongside Onana and help thread better balls into the likes of Morgan Rogers, Emi Buendia and Ollie Watkins.
All three have struggled in recent weeks and could seriously benefit from a progressive passer in behind them moving forward.
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