Unai Emery will be hoping for a change of fortune when Aston Villa return to domestic action this week.
Aston Villa have lost four games in a row and are heading towards the bottom half of the Premier League table if they don’t get their act together.
The international break arrived at the right time because it allowed all the players, and the manager, to refresh and reset themselves.
This period, from now until the end of 2024, is probably going to define where Aston Villa end up when the final ball is kicked for this campaign.
Emery’s side, heading into the second half of the season and Champions League matters to deal with, can’t afford to be playing catch up.
So, ahead of Villa’s clash against Crystal Palace at the weekend, the team need to get back to winning ways.
The man you look towards is captain John McGinn, and after being dropped by Emery, he returns to Bodymoor Heath with a spring in his step.
John McGinn labelled ‘special’ after Scotland beat Poland in UEFA Nations League
When donning the Scotland colours, McGinn is a goal machine and that was proven again during this international break.
Steve Clarke’s side beat Croatia at Hampden and then picked up a very late 2-1 win in Poland, with McGinn scoring in both matches.
That’s 20 Scotland goals for McGinn and he is now closing in on the all-time record.
Speaking on the Scottish Football Podcast, pundits Kenny Macintyre and Tom English lauded Villa’s ‘special’ player and how he is a ‘fan’s favourite’.
“We have to mention John McGinn,” said presenter Macintyre. “A special night for him. A special player for Scotland. A fan’s favourite.”
Scottish reporter English added: “Just class. He pops up the other night. He pops up again against Poland. 20 goals for his country. Absolutely outstanding. Absolutely outstanding from John McGinn.”
McGinn’s goals for Aston Villa compared to Scotland
Villa fans are hoping McGinn brings that Scotland form back to the Premier League because it’s very much needed.
His goalscoring record, when comparing club and country, makes for interesting reading because there is a stark difference.
As posted by Tranfermarkt, at Villa, he has scored 27 goals from 249 matches in all competitions, including a season in the Championship.
| Club | Apps | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aston Villa | 249 | 27 | 33 |
Compare that to his Scotland numbers and he has 20 goals in just 73 matches, this isn’t just a difference, but a clear difference.
However, there are valid reasons behind this all.
| # | National team | Debut | Apps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 |  | Scotland | Mar 29, 2016 | 73 | 20 |
For Villa, McGinn is used all over the shop, he plays deeper and he has far more attacking quality in front of him.
Jack Grealish, Ollie Watkins, Jhon Duran, Anwar El Ghazi, Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia, Jacob Ramsey, Moussa Diaby and Morgan Rogers, to name a few, have been some of the players he has played alongside.
All of those play further up and are expected to get the goals ahead of the Scotsman, so it limited his chances of scoring more goals on the domestic circuit.
But when he is with Scotland, their strikers can’t score, they struggle, so the manager looks towards McGinn and Scott McTominay.
As a result, they play further forward and stay forward for longer periods, hence the goals they proceed to score for fun.
