Crucial balance restored as Villa duo deliver vital display in Arsenal win

Among the many aspects that stood out in Aston Villa’s win over Arsenal on Sunday was the performance of midfield pairing John McGinn and Youri Tielemans.

With Boubacar Kamara sidelined by injury for the rest of the season, coupled with suspensions for McGinn and Douglas Luiz in recent weeks, there has been significant disruption to our central midfield pairing.

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In our defeat to Man City as well as the 3-3 draw with Brentford, there was a sense that Villa lacked our usual balance and control across the pitch, but particularly in midfield, where we struggled to impose ourselves and play our preferred style.

While there are obvious advantages to deploying both Luiz and Tielemans together, it also leaves us more vulnerable from a defensive perspective to an extent, while Tim Iroegbunam is continuing to gain experience and adapt to Emery’s demands in game situations.

There’s no doubt that the loss of Kamara was a huge blow given not only what he adds to the side as an individual, but the influence his presence has on others and how they impact the game.

In turn, there was always a sense that Villa would be more effective and efficient with McGinn partnering one of Luiz or Tielemans given his ability to replicate certain aspects of what Kamara offers, and it was with the latter that we looked really impressive at the Emirates on Sunday.

Tielemans ended the game with 68 touches, an 88 percent pass completion rate, an assist, six of 11 duels won, two interceptions and four tackles.

As for McGinn, he had 54 touches, 87 percent passing accuracy, seven of 11 duels won, three interceptions, one block and three tackles.

Combined, they not only provided protection for the Villa backline, but with their technical ability, physicality and doggedness, they were able to keep possession, slow the tempo down to suit us, and give us breathing space to play out from the back and build attacks in a more systematic way, as opposed to being forced to lump the ball forward with the hope someone could retain it.

Although Villa struggled in the first half as Arsenal applied pressure, both McGinn and Tielemans helped gain us a foothold in the encounter, and subsequently we built on that to start to take control after the break and score our two late goals.

Without their tenacity in the opening 45 minutes to help keep Arsenal at bay before showing composure and quality in their distribution in the heart of the battle in the second half, Villa wouldn’t have been able to get on top in the game and come out on top in such impressive fashion.

With Luiz still suspended for the visit of Bournemouth on Saturday, expect Emery to stick with his winning formula from this past weekend, as he will surely have noted the balance and poise that Villa had with this preferred set-up.