Aston Villa host Newcastle United in the Premier League tonight and Unai Emery has some key decisions to make with his team selection.
For an Aston Villa side who made a magnificent start to the season, it’s been a frustrating few weeks for the club.
In the transfer market, they’ve struggled to get deals for their primary targets over the line and haven’t made any additions to their squad in this window.
The only signing they’ve acquired is 18-year-old right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic from Red Star Belgrade, but he will spend the rest of the season playing for the Serbian giants.
Meanwhile, on the pitch, Unai Emery’s side haven’t performed to their usual high standards and have only scored one goal in their last three matches, a long-range effort from Matty Cash in the 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough.
Drawing their last two games 0-0 and struggling to break teams down, Villa have lacked any real invention or guile in the final third.
Unlike earlier on in the season when Emery’s troops looked like they’d score every time they went forward, their attackers are now starved of service or struggle to convert opportunities when they do arrive.
Against a defensively resolute Newcastle team, Villa will need to combine their skill, creativity and guile to unlock the Magpies’ defence and Leon Bailey can provide that in abundance.
Why Leon Bailey should start against Newcastle
Bailey was left out of the starting XI in the 0-0 draw against Chelsea but did come on to replace Moussa Diaby in the dying embers.
The Jamaican may have felt he should have featured more against the Blues, especially after his side struggled to create many meaningful opportunities.
Bailey has been in tremendous form throughout this campaign, scoring nine goals and supplying eight assists in all competitions.
It’s a season where the 26-year-old has truly come into his own, becoming a vitally important player in Emery’s system, who has left opposition left-backs on strings and he can continue that by starting up against Newcaste’s Dan Burn tonight.
In a match where the individual battles could decide the contest, including Bruno Guimaraes against Douglas Luiz and Ollie Watkins against Sven Botman, it’s Bailey vs Burn that could bring Villa the most joy.
The Toon defender isn’t the most mobile in one-on-one situations and is often criticised for how slow he is, so putting Bailey up against him can be where this match is won for Emery’s side.
Previously hailed as ‘wonderful’ by pundit Alan Shearer in the victory over Brentford in December, Bailey’s statistics match that praise.
Against the elite wingers across Europe’s top five leagues in the past year, he ranks in the top 1% for progressive carries, touches (att pen) and progressive passes received, via FBref.
This just demonstrates how pivotal he is to Aston Villa and why starting the £100k-a-week whiz against Burn can prove to be a decisive factor in this clash.
