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A second half Libor Kozak strike was not enough to prevent Aston Villa slipping to a 2-1 defeat away to Stoke last weekend.
Villa ‘keeper Brad Guzan has been a rock at times for Paul lambert’s side this season, pulling off some fantastic stops. He also leads the league in a rather unusual statistic, something which perhaps sheds light on the way Villa are playing at the moment. Guzan leads the league amongst goalkeepers for passes completed in the opponent’s half with 120, meaning that, more often than not, he’s more confident in sending the ball back into the opponent’s half rather than playing it out from the back.
The form of Christian Benteke must be worrying for many Villa fans this season. Their Belgian striker appears to be suffering classic ‘second season syndrome’, with his shot accuracy rate dipping far lower than would have been expected at the end of the last campaign. So far he’s only worked the ‘keeper with 50% of his 30 attempts this season according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, a figure that Paul Lambert will be hoping to see rise as he works his way back to top form.
Goals may have been slightly difficult to come by at times for Villa this season, but Lambert must be pleased with the overall defensive workrate of his side. Seven players in the Villa squad have a tackle success rate of 75% or more (Delph, Ahmadi, Albrighton, Clark, Sylla, Vlaar, Okore) according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
Lacklustre defending saw Crystal Palace chasing the game against Newcastle and despite their solid recent form following Tony Pulis’ arrival, they succumbed to a 0-3 home defeat to Newcastle Utd.
Palace fans will be relieved that Marouane Chamakh appears to be finding some of his best form again in front of goal, the Moroccan now apparently much more settled under Tony Pulis. Chamakh has also marked himself out as one of the league’s most committed forwards in defence this season, despite his reputation. He’s attempted more tackles than any other forward in the league with 41, winning 68.3% of them.
Mile Jedinak’s reading of the game continues to be exceptional this term, leading the league as he does for total interceptions with 62 according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
With two relatively physical players in Chamakh and Jerome now to aim at, Tony Pulis will no doubt be hoping that the likes of Barry Bannan can become increasingly influential for his side as the season progresses. Bannan leads the Eagles squad for crosses delivered with 15. Bannan is 9/1 with 888sport.com to score at any time this weekend.
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