Focus on Villa - Gregg Evans, The Athletic

Ahead of this evening’s Premier League clash against Aston Villa, we take a closer look at our opponents with Gregg Evans, Staff Writer and Villa correspondent for The Athletic.

Gregg previously spent over a decade at the Birmingham Mail covering West Midlands football. His time with Villa includes six managers, three ownership groups, an FA Cup Final, relegation and promotion back into the Premier League.

Form

Gregg: “The form at the moment isn’t great but, overall, the season has been a success because the team has progressed. Villa stayed up on the last day of last season, so to be so comfortable early this season has been a bonus for them. Having said that, the form has dropped off a cliff, really, because they were so impressive up to the turn of the year, but now they’ve only won two of their last 12, kept one clean sheet in seven and they just can’t hold onto a lead at the moment, they’ve dropped 14 points from winning positions in the last seven games.”

Style

Gregg: “Villa don’t usually change too much in terms of formation. It will be a flat back four, three in midfield and three up top. Ollie Watkins sets the tone. Dean Smith likes him to press high and he’s picked up a few goals from that this season. He’ll have a couple of wingers either side of him, likely El Ghazi and Traore. I don’t think Jack Grealish is ready start yet. Tyrone Mings is touch and go after picking up a shin injury. If he doesn’t play, it will be Kortney Hause again, and he’s done quite well when he’s come in.”

Key player

Gregg: “I’ll go with Ollie Watkins. If you took his goals out (13 in the Premier League) this season... Villa have struggled to find a goalscorer in the Premier League in recent seasons. He’s come in, the pressure was on him to perform as the club’s record signing, he’d never played in the Premier League before, but he’s settled straight in. He’s been unlucky as well, he’s hit the woodwork seven times, so it’s fine margins, he could have had an extra four or five goals on top of his total. I really like his journey, how he’s played in every division, even when he was with Exeter in League Two he went on loan into the Conference (Weston-super-Mare) to get more game time. He’s done it in every division and is on this nice, upward trajectory, so, fair play to him.”