Moussa Diaby may force Unai Emery into rethink as Aston Villa await Leon Bailey injury news
Moussa Diaby may get a chance to force Aston Villa boss Unai Emery into a rethink should Leon Bailey be facing a spell out of the side.
Speaking after the game, Emery could not offer any assurances over the Jamaican’s fitness, but he did imply it was a precautionary matter.
“He was tired, completely tired,” Emery said, as per Birmingham Live reporter John Townley [9 December]. “Hopefully he’s not injured but I don’t know exactly.”
Even if it is purely down to fitness reasons, rather than any sort of knock, it is clear that Bailey could do with a breather against Zrinjski Mostar.
Beyond that Europa Conference League tie, given the quick turnaround in fixtures through the remainder of December and into January, Emery cannot afford to overuse Bailey.
Diaby must therefore show he is able to step in when required, having fallen out of favour in recent weeks – for whatever reason that may be.
The Frenchman replaced Bailey against Arsenal and put in a steady display in which he completed 83 per cent of his passes [Sofascore].
The caveat to that is the 24-year-old only attempted six of them in 45 minutes on the field, completing five.
Still, that is only two completed passes fewer than Bailey, while Diaby also played two key passes to the Jamaica international’s one.
In fact, those two key passes were more than any Villa player managed, while only Kai Havertz registered as many for Arsenal [Who Scored].
That should not be all that surprising, as Diaby has averaged 1.6 key passes per game in the Premier League this season.
Among Villa players, only Lucas Digne – suspended for the trip to Brentford this coming weekend – can boast more (1.8).
Diaby also stands out in terms of his dribbling ability, averaging 0.9 per game, although Bailey (1.3) is one of only two Villa players who betters that (the other being John McGinn – 2.1).
There is no reason, then, why Emery cannot give Bailey a bit of a breather now, even if that means leaving him out for a couple of games.
Amid murmurings of a possible falling out behind the scenes, now is not the time for squabbles to get in the way of team success.
Villa are better off than anyone could ever have imagined this season and there is no reason why this great run of form cannot continue.
If that is to happen, Emery will have to make full use of his squad. Let’s just hope Diaby takes full advantage as and when he is given the nod.
