It may not have been quite as pretty as their wins over Arsenal or Manchester City, but Aston Villa have continued their excellent recent run of form with a workmanlike 2-1 win over Brentford.
Second-half goals from Alex Moreno and Ollie Watkins saw Unai Emery’s side come from behind to claim all three points at the Gtech Community Stadium, despite losing Boubacar Kamara to a red card in the closing stages of the clash.
While both Moreno and Watkins earned plenty of praise for their finishes, Alan Shearer was left stunned by the build-up to both goals, heaping praise on Leon Bailey in particular for his “wonderful” delivery to assist Villa’s opener.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2 (17 December, 18:50) he said: “This is a wonderful ball in from Bailey, great credit to Aston Villa. Moreno, Roerslev doesn’t even see him, first time he sees him it’s in the back of the net.
“Good ball in and then me and Wrighty are saying once that goes in they’re going to go on and win it.”
Bailey, who was a doubt for the clash with Brentford having picked up an injury, was only introduced with 25 minutes left to play but managed to change the whole dynamic of the game in his brief, but effective cameo.
The Jamaican international only touched the ball 19 times in the clash but managed to complete 67 per cent of his nine attempted passes, including registering the assist for Moreno’s goal. His cross back to the post carries an impressive xA of 0.23 as he almost put it on a plate for the Spaniard [Fotmob].
He may not have completed a single one of his three attempted dribbles, but the one foul he won in the match was enough to get Ben Mee sent off for the home side. The Aston Villa winger showed incredibly quick feet to move the ball away from the Brentford defender’s heavy challenge.
That ball into the penalty area was the only cross the 26-year-old completed in the match, meaning 100 per cent of the chances he created led to a goal. In comparison, the man he replaced Moussa Diaby failed to create a single chance for any of his teammates in 65 minutes.
In five Premier League starts and 10 substitute appearances this season, Bailey has registered 10 goal involvements, including five goals and five assists. He has only played 616 minutes of league football, meaning he is averaging a goal or assist every 61.6 minutes.
Diaby on the other hand has registered seven goal involvements in 14 starts this season and averages a goal contribution every 161.1 minutes of football. Although the Frenchman impressed in his early outings in claret and blue, he hasn’t been anywhere near as effective in recent weeks.
There have been few players in the Premier League as impactful as Bailey in the final third this season and the 26-year-old should now be considered undroppable in the Aston Villa starting XI.
He places in the top one per cent of his positional peers in the Premier League for non-penalty goals, assists and expected assists per 90 minutes. On top of that, he has been one of the division’s best dribblers, completing more take-ons than 97 per cent of midfielders [Fbref].
Bailey’s form this season has arguably been second to none in Villa’s ranks and the Jamaican must be one of the first names on the teamsheet at Villa Park. If Emery wants to maintain this winning run, he must start the “wonderful” winger week in and week out.
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