Stat Attack – Aston Villa v AFC Bournemouth

Written by Matt Stevenson

Here is the xG from the A Villa game. The conclusion from the image is that A Villa created all the chances with our being minor at best. In the opening 22 minutes, we were being dominated and there were attempts from Watkins (twice), Rogers, Tielemans and Onana (all rated 1 in 12 or better) as A Villa raced to an xG of 0.67 whilst AFCB languished at 0.02. From this point though, we began to get ourselves back into the game and have half chances and the xG to the rest of the half was A Villa 0.09 and AFCB 0.17, meaning at the interval it was in xG terms A Villa 0.76 and AFCB 0.18. The upturn in form was short-lived however, as Villa again dominated, with Ross Barkley having a big chance inside the six-yard box but missed the target (3 in 10). In the 73rd minute, Duran dragged a shot past the near post (1 in 5) before two minutes later Barkley opened the scoring stretching to turn it past Travers who had been excellent (rated 1 in 5). This was Villa’s last attempt as they sat back and protected the lead. AFCB wasn’t making any clear chances, although there were two debatable penalty shouts late in the game that (as not given) did not show on the xG timeline. Then, in the 96th minute, we crafted another minor chance (1 in 25) and Evanilson glided a header from Tavernier’s free-kick into the bottom right corner. At full-time, the xG was A Villa 1.81 and AFCB 0.31. Understat also had A Villa dominant, at 1.97 vs 0.35. This is the first time based on OPTA stats that we have had the lower xG value and got a point.

Man of the match against Villa

Travers

Vote

Senesi

Vote

Evanilson

Vote

Kerkez

Vote

Cook

Vote

Tavernier

Vote

Zabarnyi

Vote

O. Dango

Vote

Christie

Vote

Someone else

Vote

There were a number of surprises in the team and squad as illness hit. Travers played in goal instead of Kepa, with Araujo replacing Smith, Christie coming in for the injured Scott, Kluivert replacing Tavernier, and unexpectedly Unal replacing Evanilson. The shape was as expected, with Kerkez (3) playing the most advanced of the defensive line, although, as against Arsenal, Semenyo (24) played on the left and Ouattara (11) on the right. Kluivert (19) was playing in the 10-role. The first change came very early and was believed to be tactical, with a straight swap with Araujo (22) and Smith (15). The second change was after 64 minutes, with A Villa largely in control, with Tavernier (16) replacing Kluivert and Evanilson (9) replacing Unal (26). Both departing players had been booked, and the ref was card-happy, so this may have influenced the decision. At 1-0 down we made our last changes, with Brooks (7) replacing Kerkez, presumably with Ouattara playing left back, and Adams (12) replacing Christie (10) although Adams played relatively deeper, presumably allowing others to push further forward.

Senesi had the most touches with 77. Christie had the most touches in the opposition half with 35 and Semenyo had the most touches in the final third with 23.

Senesi attempted the most passes with 64, Christie attempted most in the opposition’s half (26) with Semenyo attempting the most in the final third with 10. AFCB averaged 83% pass completion. Araujo (100%) Christie (91%), Cook (90%) Kerkez (90%) and Kluivert (90%) had the highest percentage of completed passes of the starting 11, although Araujo only made 8 passes.

Our players tried to take on a man 13 times being successful 5 times. Semenyo completed 2 out of 3.

AFCB players were tackled 15 times with both Ouattara and Unal being tackled 5 times.

AFCB attempted 20 crosses, being successful with 4 (2 from Kerkez, from 2 attempts, 1 from Cook and 1 from Tavernier for the goal).

AFCB had 18 touches in the opposition’s penalty area with Semenyo having 6. A Villa had 34 touches in our penalty area.

AFCB created 9 chances (0 big). A Villa created 13 chances, 3 big. Kerkez, Semenyo and Tavernier created 2 chances each.

We had 18 attempts (0 big) noting that chances can be provided after saves, deflections or a defensive error and not created. We hit the target three times. A Villa had 18 attempts, 3 big, and hit the target 8 times. Ouattara, Kluivert and Unal had 2 attempts each.

AFCB won 15 of 28 aerials duals. Senesi won 5 out of 8 and Unal won 4 out of 6.

AFCB won 19 of 25 tackles. Cook won 4 out of 4 and Senesi won 4 out of 5.

Zabarnyi made the most defensive actions with 12. Kerkez made the most interceptions (3), Travers made the most recoveries (8), Ouattara made the most clearances with 5, and Cook and Zabarnyi made the joint-most number of blocks with 2.

The foul count was AFCB 14, A Villa 12. Semenyo made the most fouls (3) and was fouled the most (3)

According to Opta, AFCB made no errors leading to a chance

The Opta expected goals had Unal highest with 0.10. For expected assists, Kerkez was top with 0.09.