Aston Villa have dropped points for the first time this season since losing to Arsenal a month ago, with a 2-2 draw against Ipswich Town.
Villa were down early when Liam Delap scored after just eight minutes before goals from Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins sent Villa in at half-time 2-1 up.
However, a 72nd minute equaliser by Delap, meant the spoils were shared, both leaving with just the one point.
This leaves Villa fifth in the Premier League after just six games played, joint on 13 points with fourth-placed Chelsea.
Next week, Unai Emery’s side face Manchester United and a certain man may need to be dropped from the starting XI after today’s performance.
Lucas Digne’s performance in numbers
Lucas Digne put in a poor performance for Villa, giving the ball away eight times, being dribbled past on three occasions, and only winning four of his nine duels overall.
Handed a 6/10 match rating by Birmingham World, Digne also picked up a ‘sloppy yellow card’ for kicking the ball away which just about topped off a poor performance which has left Emery with the question of whether he should be starting next weekend.
The 31-year-old left-back has the responsibility to get up and down on the left-hand side, participating on both ends of the ball, as he provides width on the left in attacking areas, and has to track back to cover the opposition winger out of possession. However, in failing to complete either of his two crosses and registering no dribbles or key passes, he evidently didn’t do enough in offensive areas.
But it just so happens, Villa acquired a new left-back in the summer, one who is more youthful and energetic with his ability to get up and down the pitch, and can provide the team with more technical quality, whilst still putting in hardworking defensive shifts.
How Lucas Digne compares to Ian Maatsen
Ian Maatsen was signed from Chelsea this summer, for a fee of around £37.5m this summer, and he could be the perfect addition to Emery’s team to replace Digne.
Maatsen made 38 appearances last season, most of which came whilst on loan at Dortmund, which included him playing in the Champions League final.
Unfortunately, Maatsen and Dortmund lost 2-0 against Real Madrid in the final, but in his time at Dortmund on loan, Maatsen showed his qualities, scoring three goals and providing two assists from left-back.
|
Maatsen (23/24) vs Digne (24/25) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats (per 90 mins) |
Maatsen |
Digne |
|
Goals |
0.12 |
0.00 |
|
Assists |
0.08 |
0.34 |
|
Progressive Carries |
2.74 |
0.00 |
|
Progressive Passes |
5.34 |
1.84 |
|
Shots Total |
1.01 |
0.34 |
|
Key Passes |
0.64 |
1.43 |
|
Passes into Final Third |
4.62 |
1.43 |
|
Shot-Creating Actions |
1.97 |
1.84 |
|
Tackles |
2.05 |
2.86 |
|
Interceptions |
1.17 |
0.85 |
|
Stats taken from FBref |
||
Described as “excellent” by Jacek Kulig after his game against PSG last season, Maatsen truly showed his all round ability whilst on loan with Dortmund. Contributing to build up with his progressive carrying and passing, getting into positions to get shots off, and providing shot-creating actions for his team. In that regard, he’s certainly better than Digne.
Maatsen’s addition into the Villa line up could bring all of these wonderful creative and progressive qualities, whilst also adding an extra bit of tenacity and zip, which the Dutchman brings with his hard-working nature.
Emery could make the decision to drop Digne and bring the summer signing into the starting XI for their next game, and based on his time at Dortmund, a sustained run in the side could see him make that position his own.
