Aston Villa were held to a 2-2 draw by Brighton on Monday night, as we ended 2024 in frustrating fashion having failed to seal a win in a game that was there to be won.
Goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers turned the game in our favour after we conceded early, but the visitors were able to find a late equaliser to secure a share of the spoils.
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The draw leaves Villa in ninth place in the Premier League table after 19 games, and although it’s tightly packed in the standings, Unai Emery and the players will know that we must significantly improve in the second half of the campaign to ensure we achieve our objectives for the year.
Porous defence continues to leak goals
That’s now five games without a clean sheet and 10 goals conceded, as a familiar problem continues to rear its ugly head.
Villa have a horrendous habit of not only conceding early and late goals, but giving away soft ones that are very much avoidable.
Our defending is simply not good enough and this rate of conceding goals is not sustainable if we want to become a team that competes at the top. Emery must find a way to make us more robust and more difficult to beat as we aren’t performing at the necessary level and it will continue to make our lives more difficult.
Wasteful Villa should have killed game off
Around the 70-minute mark, there was a clear drop off in our intensity and tempo, and that was a glaring signal that Brighton were going to grow into the game and have chances.
Ultimately that proved to be the case as they found an 81st-minute equaliser, and while the point above still stands about Villa’s defence, we weren’t ruthless enough in front of goal in this game either.
We had chances to kill it off with Watkins chiefly among those to have some big chances, but having failed to do so, we were punished, and that will happen in this league such is the level of quality.
Concern over Pau Torres injury
There was real concern over Pau after he had to be carried off the pitch and down the tunnel without being able to put any pressure on his right foot.
Emery conceded after the game that he believes it might be a broken metatarsal bone in his foot, and so that spells a stint on the sidelines for the Spaniard in the coming weeks.
While on one hand we perhaps need to integrate Tyrone Mings more consistently to tighten things up at the back, it’s still a major blow to lose Pau if the injury is confirmed following further tests this week, as he is a hugely positive influence on how we play.
Positive signs from Leon Bailey
Although he’s still missing an end product which is naturally a key issue, there were encouraging signs from Bailey in this game as he looked more confident and played with intent.
It’s been a difficult season for him so far as he’s struggled with fitness and form, and given how important he is not only in being a decisive figure in the final third but with the dynamic he brings to the team with his quality down the right wing, we need him back at his best.
This was a positive outing for him which will hopefully continue to build up his confidence and momentum, and combined with the return of the man discussed below, our attack looks in an increasingly healthier place.
Good to see Jacob Ramsey return
After more than a month out, it was a significant boost to see Ramsey make his comeback from injury as he managed to get around 15 minutes on Monday night.
The priority for him now is to stay healthy, get a consistent run of games and rediscover his best form, but there’s no doubt that he’s a pivotal cog in Emery’s preferred line-up.
With his defensive contribution, work ethic, energy, goal threat and positional awareness, he’s a crucial presence in both phases for us, and similarly to Bailey, he adds a key dynamic and balance to our attack and team as a whole down that left side.
