{"id":424833,"date":"2025-09-14T23:12:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T23:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/424833\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T23:12:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T23:12:19","slug":"emery-on-villas-lack-of-goals-tielemans-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/424833\/","title":{"rendered":"Emery on Villa\u2019s lack of goals + Tielemans injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa\u2019s search for a goal continued on Saturday, as Unai Emery\u2019s side scraped a draw against Everton.<\/p>\n

Here are our Scout Notes from the Hill Dickinson Stadium.<\/p>\n

VILLA\u2019S GOAL DROUGHT<\/p>\n

Aston Villa delivered yet another disappointing attacking display on Saturday, as they remain goalless for the 2025\/26 season.<\/p>\n

Unai Emery\u2019s side generated a mere 0.41 expected goals (xG) at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with their attacking threat, notably for the fourth week in a row, little to none.<\/p>\n

Even the second-half introduction of deadline day signing Harvey Elliott<\/strong> (\u00a35.4m) failed to galvanise them:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Morgan Rogers<\/strong> (\u00a37.0m) and Ollie Watkins<\/strong> (\u00a38.9m) were particularly poor, with Watkins failing to register a single shot on goal.<\/p>\n

He managed just one touch in the Everton penalty box, too.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe have to support him, and every player must feel comfortable. There are good and bad moments. Players go through dips in confidence and performance, but we need to find the right balance. It\u2019s important to stay consistent \u2013 whether we\u2019re winning or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Ollie Watkins \u2013 calm. Keep working. We\u2019re not scoring, and the striker becomes the focus. But I\u2019m not especially worried about him. We will score again, and he will score again.\u201d \u2013 Unai Emery on Ollie Watkins<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

With Rogers and Watkins below par, Emiliano Buendia<\/strong> (\u00a35.3m) was Villa\u2019s brightest spark.<\/p>\n

Handed his first Premier League start in over two years, the Argentine nearly broke the deadlock shortly after the break, but his effort deflected just wide of the post.<\/p>\n

Emery will be hoping Villa\u2019s attacking form will improve when they face Brentford in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, before travelling to Sunderland in Gameweek 5.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOf course, offensively we need more. We need to try to help our strikers, wingers and midfielders. [I am] happy because we competed and this is the first step forward. We are going to work, and we know inside the problem we have.\u201d \u2013 Unai Emery<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

VILLA\u2019S DEFENCE\/TIELEMANS INJURY<\/p>\n

One positive for Emery was the defensive display of his team, especially that of Emiliano Martinez<\/strong> (\u00a35.0m).<\/p>\n

The goalkeeper returned to the Villa starting XI after missing Gameweek 3 due to transfer speculation, and he made two excellent stops on Merseyside, denying Jack Grealish <\/strong>(\u00a36.8m) and Michael Keane<\/strong> (\u00a34.5m).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s now two clean sheets in four matches for Villa.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAfter we lost at home 3-0, we didn\u2019t score, but we had chances, but we conceded and we were so, so fragile defensively. We conceded three goals against Crystal Palace and it was the first work we did to try to set today.\u201d \u2013 Unai Emery<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Youri Tielemans <\/strong>(\u00a35.9m), meanwhile, suffered an injury in the first half<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Belgian, who started alongside Lamare Bogarde<\/strong> (\u00a34.0m) in central midfield, was substituted off at the break.<\/p>\n

When asked about Tielemans\u2019 injury, Emery said:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYouri is going to be out some matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully we can recover Kamara and Onana \u2013 Barkley too. But today, Lamare Bogarde helped us a lot. He did a fantastic job and I\u2019m happy for him. Lindelof also played as a midfielder for 10 minutes. That\u2019s the commitment we need.\u201d \u2013 Unai Emery<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

GREALISH + NDIAYE \u201cFANTASTIC\u201d<\/p>\n

Everton certainly had the better opportunities on Saturday, with 20 shots to seven, but they lacked a killer touch.<\/p>\n

Keane was a constant threat from set-pieces, registering four shots on goal, while Beto<\/strong> (\u00a35.4m), not for the first time, fluffed several decent chances.<\/p>\n

Regarding Grealish, he struck a volley directly at Martinez; however, despite not scoring, he performed exceptionally well.<\/p>\n

Pulling the strings from the left side, Gameweek 4\u2019s most-bought player created a match-high five chances and racked up 19 penalty box touches.<\/p>\n

In fact, just under 60% of the chances created by Everton on Saturday stemmed from his side of the pitch:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Iliman Ndiaye<\/strong> (\u00a36.5m), meanwhile, overcame a knock and should have had an assist after setting up Beto.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI thought Jack did brilliantly. I thought Ili was fantastic in the first half and I thought Jack was brilliant as well. I thought the two of them were fantastic in their ball-carrying, their one-v-one situations and are making us look a much bigger threat than we were before.\u201d \u2013 David Moyes on Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ndiaye and James Tarkowski<\/strong> (\u00a35.5m) both picked up defensive contribution (DefCon) points.<\/p>\n

Tarkowski, who commanded the defence superbly, is now one of just two defenders \u2013 along with Marcos Senesi<\/strong> (\u00a34.6m) \u2013 to have reached the required DefCon threshold in each of his four appearances this season.<\/p>\n

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