After many positive performances in recent weeks, Leon Bailey needs to come in against Legia Warsaw, in place of an out-of-form Moussa Diaby.
This season has been superb for Aston Villa with great form in the Premier League being followed by European football.
In the Europa Conference League, the Villans have lost just one game and have won all the other three. This sees them level on points at the top of the group with two matches remaining.
Under Unai Emery, the Villans are going from strength to strength as Champions League becomes a realistic goal. It must be said that the chance of winning a European trophy this campaign can’t be cast aside.
In recent weeks Villa have bounced back from defeat against Nottingham Forest with back-to-back league wins. With wins over Fulham and Tottenham, they currently find themselves sitting in fourth place.
Thursday night football returns to Villa Park tonight as Legia are welcomed to B6. There is one star that should come in to start after his recent performances.
Why Leon Bailey should start vs Legia Warsaw
Gabby Agbonlahor has referred to Leon Bailey as ‘frightening‘, such is his style of play. This was prior to the season’s kick-off and the Jamaican has had a terrific start to the campaign.
This season he has been a massive impact player, often coming off the bench as Emery has opted for Moussa Diaby or Nicolo Zaniolo.
In spite of this fact, he has six goals and six assists in 19 appearances across all competitions which is very impressive. In the Premier League alone he has Villa’s highest goals per 90 stat with 0.70. This is 0.14 more than top scorer, Ollie Watkins.
Last time out, against Spurs, the winger came on at halftime in place of Diaby who had, had a difficult game. Bailey performed well and contributed as the second-half performance by the Villans was completely different. This is in the best possible sense.
According to SofaScore, he had 28 touches, 88% pass accuracy and a 75% dribble success rate, it is safe to say that the Jamaican was on top of his game. He hit the post early on and was unfortunate to not get a goal or assist.
Given the quality of his performance, he has to start the crunch clash at Villa Park against Legia Warsaw. Despite Diaby’s good start to the season, his form in recent weeks has been poor and Bailey has been top-class recently.
