Unai Emery has to persist with Moussa Diaby for Aston Villa when they play Lille due to his performance v Arsenal at the weekend.
At the Emirates on Sunday (14 April), the Villans secured a famous 2-0 win thanks to late goals by Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins. The performance was superb, as Villa managed to shut out Mikel Arteta’s side, who have scored 75 Premier League goals this season.
Villa’s attention will now turn to the Conference League quarter-final as Emery’s side take a 2-1 aggregate lead away to Lille.
With the game in Villa’s hands, they need to be clever and defensively sound to shut them out and secure a semi-final place.
Moussa Diaby should start for Aston Villa v Lille
Against the Gunners, Diaby was on top form and although he didn’t impact the game in an offensive sense, he was great when tracking back.
The Frenchman featured off the right-hand side and combined well with Ezri Konsa to shut out Leandro Trossard and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
According to FotMob, he made two tackles and had a 100 per cent success rate and additionally made nine recoveries in 61 minutes on the pitch.
On top of this, he had an 81 per cent pass accuracy which helped to keep the Villans ticking throughout the game.
Away to Lille, the Ligue 1 outfit are likely to get at Emery’s side from the off and being able to shut them out will be of paramount importance.
He showed his attacking side to his game throughout March with two goals and three assists in the Premier League and Europe [FotMob].
In his last start in Europe, against Ajax (14 March), according to FotMob, he got on the scoresheet, had three shots on target, and 100 per cent dribble success. This was all while keeping a 100 per cent tackle ratio and winning four duels.
Diaby should certainly keep his place in the side as he combines with the midfield and defence well to add solidity. Although his offensive output is his prerogative, being part of a unit is what his manager wants.
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