Aston Villa entertained Sheffield United at Villa Park earlier today hoping to pick up maximum points at home. The Villans began the match well and did enough to make life difficult for the Blades in the first half.
Chris Wilder’s men were denied what looked like a perfectly good goal due to a tech error which gave the home side a lucky break. Both teams fought tooth and nail in the second 45 minutes but couldn’t add to the goal tally as the contest finished with a 0-0 scoreline.
Let’s take a look at how each Aston Villa player performed during the clash versus the Blades.
GK: Ørjan Nyland – 6/10
The Villa keeper almost cost his team a goal and was fortunate to get away with his error in the first half. However, he ended the match with his clean sheet intact, which was enough for his side to secure a valuable point.
RB: Ezri Konsa – 6.5/10
He was a strong presence inside the Villa half and did well to neutralise the threat of Sheffield’s Enda Stevens out on the wide areas. However, his day was cut short due to an injury in the second half.
CB: Kortney Hause – 7.5/10
The English centre-back put in a commanding defensive performance at the heart of Smith’s backline. He didn’t put a foot wrong in the game.
CB: Tyrone Mings – 7/10
The Villans centre-back was not threatened by the presence of Billy Sharp and Oliver McBurnie. He communicated well with Hause to produce a clean sheet worthy performance today.
LB: Matt Targett – 6.5/10
Targett was disciplined throughout the game, and like many of his teammates, he put in a dominant display inside his half.
CM: Conor Hourihane – 6/10
He struggled to get into the game but created a couple of decent opportunities in the opposition half.
CM: Douglas Luiz – 6/10
The Brazilian did his primary job well as he worked his socks off to provide adequate protection for the backline. However, he lacked invention with his passes going forward.
CM: John McGinn – 6/10
It was positive for him to get some valuable minutes under his belt after such a long injury lay-off. However, he struggled to make any meaningful contributions going forward but not for the lack of trying.
RW: Anwar El Ghazi – 5/10
The Dutch winger found it difficult to positively influence the game down the touchline in what was a lacklustre display from him today.
ST: Keinan Davis – 6/10
He showed a few early signs of promise but was guilty of missing a glorious chance to score with his head. Davis needs to improve his finishing if he wants to earn more first-team opportunities in the future.
LW: Jack Grealish – 6.5/10
The Villans captain carried most of his team’s creative workload in the final third. He played a couple of excellent through-passes during the game but ended up a frustrated figure in the end.
Substitutes:
RW: Trezeguet – 5/10
He made a minimal impact after coming off the bench in the second half.
ST: Mbwana Samatta – 5/10
The Tanzanian striker never looked like he had a goal in him.
CM: Marvelous Nakamba – 5/10
He provided some fresh legs on the field.
RB: Ahmed Elmohamady – 6/10
The Egyptian did well to slot in at right-back after replacing the injured Konsa.
