Aston Villa travel to Belgium on Wednesday night with a feeling of mixed emotions.
This will be the fourth Champions League gameweek and another chance for Unai Emery’s side to book an unexpected top-eight place.
Aston Villa sit top of the Champions League table after winning their opening three matches, without conceding.
On that note, they are on a high, the mood is positive around the camp and they are only a few wins away from booking a ticket to the knockout stages.
But, on the other, Aston Villa were beaten 4-1 by Tottenham at the weekend and the team is in a bit of a slump.
That’s back-to-back defeats, including getting knocked out of the EFL Cup by Crystal Palace, so in that sense, the form of the team and individual players is out of the window.
And this is where Emery needs to make a few ruthless calls.
Unai Emery needs to start Boubacar Kamara instead of John McGinn for Aston Villa’s clash against Club Brugge
It was music to everyone’s ears when Boubacar Kamara returned from his long-term injury because he has been a huge miss in the middle of the park.
Kamara might not make defence-splitting passes or carry the ball forward like Morgan Rogers, but what he does well is defend that backline and keep the ball under pressure.
Aston Villa need that right now, especially with the defence all over the shop and only one clean sheet recorded after ten Premier League matches.
Yes, Villa are yet to concede in the Champions League, but more defensive bite is needed and captain John McGinn should be the one to make way.
McGinn’s stats for Villa
That consistency just hasn’t been there with McGinn and, armband or no armband, if he isn’t performing, then he doesn’t deserve to start.
Yes, many players were poor against Spurs, but Villa need to somehow bring Kamara into the XI and McGinn seems to be the one in the firing line.
The Scotland international has already spoken about getting a dressing down from the manager for his poor performances and how he could be dropped, as posted by the Birmingham Mail in October.
“He’s [Emery] so intense,” said McGinn. “He called me in and said ‘you were very poor against Wolves, you need to improve when you’re back or you’ll be out’. I thought he was having a nice chat with me!”
WhoScored have rated McGinn 7.62 for his two Champions League appearances, but 6.38 for what he has done in the Premier League so far.
| Tournament | Apps | Drb | Goals | Assists | Key passes | SpG | PS% | AerialsWon | Tackles | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions League | 2 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 80 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 7.62 |
| League Cup | 1 | 2 | – | – | 3 | 1 | 93.6 | – | – | 6.43 |
| Premier League | 7(1) | 0.8 | – | – | 0.5 | 0.9 | 87 | 0.9 | – | 6.38 |
