Unai Emery can’t ignore Bradley Burrowes any longer at Aston Villa after ‘mind-blowing’ run
Unai Emery may be tempted to turn to rising Aston Villa star Bradley Burrowes amid his stellar season.
Villa are having a remarkable campaign, with Emery‘s side outside contenders until recently to win the Premier League title for the first time.
Despite scoring just 38 goals in 27 matches – a stat bettered by seven other top-flight teams – the Villa Park outfit are flying high in third.
With attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers and striker Ollie Watkins – who has struggled with injuries and form – topping the club’s scoring charts with eight, the search for more goal contributions at Villa continues.
While sometimes the gap between the Under-21s to the first-team is too big, that does not mean Emery cannot consider players such as Burrowes in the final few months of the season.
Bradley Burrowes’ remarkable goalscoring stats at Aston Villa
Burrowes has been at Villa since signing from Bristol Rovers in 2021. Since then, the 17-year-old has worked his way up the club’s youth ranks, impressing along the way.
Last August, the teenager made his professional debut as a second-half substitute in a Premier League loss to Crystal Palace.
He has not been played since then but that has not stopped the England Under-18 international from strutting his stuff this term.
Indeed, Burrowes was on the scoresheet again as Villa progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Wrexham at Keys Park on Tuesday.
That was his fifth goal of the competition this season, following braces in round three and four. Naturally, that has led to a great deal of excitement among fans, with one finishing off a tweet with the mind-blowing emoji – and rightly so.
That is after it was pointed out Burrowes has scored in every U21 Premier League game and FA Youth Cup game since the end of August.
Remarkably, he has been involved in a goal every 53 minutes this season.
Not only did Burrowes bury the winner, he was a constant threat in Villa’s front three against the Welsh side.
The Bristol-born player predominantly plays as a winger, but can also play as a centre-forward, and on the right side of an attack.
Burrowes was part of the Villa Under-18 side that won last season’s Professional U18 Development League and the FA Youth Cup. He will be eyeing more success this term.
Potential opportunity for Burrowes in the Villa first team?
When a rising star is making waves in a club’s youth ranks, there is always a temptation to give him a chance in the first team.
However, there is a very real risk of blooding them too soon, leading to their confidence levels taking a hit.
But with numbers such as 14 goals and four assists in just 14 appearances, many Villa fans are sitting up and taking notice.
Eight of those, along with three assists, have come in Premier League 2 in just seven games, and six more have followed in the FA Youth Cup and UEFA Youth League.
Incidentally, despite their relative lack of goals to their nearest rivals, Villa have been super clinical this season.
When it comes to their expected points tally, Villa are 17 points better off than their actual one, thanks to scoring 4.5 more goals than expected and shipping 10 fewer than predicted.
That may not be sustainable over the whole season, with Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool all not too far behind in the table, though.
When the stakes are so high, as Villa seek to qualify for next season’s Champions League, giving youngsters first-team minutes may not be ideal.
But Burrowes is making all the right noises in his bid to get another shot in Emery’s side.
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