Aston Villa were held to a 0-0 draw by Leeds Utd at Elland Road on Sunday in what was a frustrating and disappointing performance, as we failed to break the deadlock and capitalise against 10 men.
Despite the hosts being reduced to 10 men just five minutes into the second half, Villa couldn’t find a way through as we showed no real quality or ruthlessness in the final third to make the difference.
While we’ve successfully shored things up defensively and look more organised and harder to beat, the lack of quality in our play in the final third is alarming, and that’s reflected in our tally of just six goals in eight Premier League games so far this season.
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Ollie Watkins, Philippe Coutinho and others had chances to find the back of the net, but all were wasteful as we missed out on a big opportunity to claim all three points and instead had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Leeds Utd:
Emiliano Martinez, 7 – Didn’t have a great deal to do as Leeds were limited in an attacking sense especially after going down to 10 men. Commanded his box well though when needed and stayed alert to make a key save in latter stages to deny Bamford.
Ashley Young, 6.5 – Showed his experience and versatility to fill in at right-back before being switched over to the left side. Puts in a solid shift but his limited attacking ability combined with a questionable set up where too much responsibility was placed on him to help us find a breakthrough meant it was a frustrating game in an attacking sense.
Ezri Konsa, 7.5 – Positive performance as he stayed switched on defensively and did his job for the team when he was shifted across to right-back. Similarly to Young, had too many touches and too much importance put on him to start our attacks which stunted our play, but he did his all-round job really well.
Tyrone Mings, 7 – Another solid display as he was alert to danger when needed and kept things simple in possession. Comes under fire from the Leeds faithful when we head up to Elland Road, but dealt with that and the attacking threat from the hosts well for the most part.
Ludwig Augustinsson, 6 – Looked to be putting in a good shift as he filled in for Lucas Digne, even despite picking up an early yellow card which would have prevented him from being as aggressive off the ball as he would have liked. Looked tidy before being replaced with a hamstring injury just before half-time.
Jacob Ramsey, 6.5 – Showed his ability to break forward with powerful runs at times and made some strong challenges to add more presence in midfield. However, it was all too brief and he needs to find some consistency with that to be a bigger influence in games more often.
Douglas Luiz, 6 – Kept things simple and tidy after being restored in the No.6 role, and did his job relatively well in keeping things ticking and moving us up the pitch. That said, especially with Leeds sitting back and being hard to break down, we need him to get on the ball more and build attacks rather than the ball going wide to the full-backs, especially with no Digne or Matty Cash.
John McGinn, 6 – A usual committed display as he put himself about, but that’s now eight appearances so far this season and no goals or assists from the Scottish international. While he has a defensive job to do, he also has an important role to play in adding an attacking threat from midfield. We need to start seeing it to add a crucial new dynamic to our play.
Leon Bailey, 5.5 – Showed glimpses but not often enough and wasn’t decisive. Ran into trouble too many times and when he did manage to provide opportunities for others, they were wasteful. Needs to offer more in the final third if he is to keep his place in the side.
Ollie Watkins, 5 – Does an important job for the team with his work ethic up front and his movement is key in giving his teammates an option up the pitch. However, he simply has to start being more clinical and ruthless in front of goal as it’s hurting us when he doesn’t take those chances. Had several in this one to put the game away.
Philippe Coutinho, 5.5 – Had his moments but for such a key player in this side, he isn’t doing enough in terms of creativity and quality to break teams down. Similarly to McGinn, he has failed to register either a goal or assist in eight appearances so far this season, and for such a talented individual with such an important role for us, that simply isn’t good enough. Had chances in this one to make the difference but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Substitutes:
Jan Bednarek, 6 – Did well coming on in a difficult situation. Physically imposing and added some steeliness to the backline.
Emiliano Buendia, 6.5 – Baffling as to how many more times the Argentine playmaker needs to come on and show more quality and urgency than most before he’s back in the starting XI. He consistently makes a positive impact when coming on and so is a must-start moving forward.
Danny Ings, N/A
