The fixtures may be coming thick and fast on multiple fronts, yet Villa continue to find a way to grind out victories – three in a row now in the league after the dramatic turnaround at Brentford.
However, injuries and suspensions will likely have more and more of an impact as the season goes on, with Youri Tielemans the latest to be sidelined with a knock.
That will force Emery to make full use of his squad, which can only be good news for a fringe player such as Leander Dendoncker, who is having to pick up the occasional minutes here and there.
Speaking after the 2-1 win at Brentford, as quoted by Birmingham Live [18 December], Emery said: “When some injuries are coming and players are suspended, it’s important as well for players to train every day like Dendoncker. It is the moment for other players.”
Dendoncker was brought on for the closing stages of a feisty contest at the Gtech Community Stadium, replacing Jacob Ramsey in the middle of the park.
That was the Belgium international’s sixth league appearance of the campaign, each of those coming from the substitutes’ bench and totalling just 31 minutes on the field.
For context, only Bertrand Traore has been given fewer league minutes this season (10) among senior players still at Villa Park [WhoScored]. Because of those lack of minutes, it is difficult to truly compare Dendoncker to Villa’s other midfielders.
However, his pass-success percentage of 65 is the lowest of any Villa player, while only Traore (1.5) averages fewer than his 3.3 passes per game on average [WhoScored].
Perhaps it is fairer to instead use Dendoncker’s figures from last season, in which his pass-success percentage was 88.2, which is in line with the likes of Boubacar Kamara (89.8) and Douglas Luiz (88.5) this time around.
Dendoncker was often tidy in possession last season, in fact, as he completed 93 per cent of his short passes [FBref] – no Villa midfielder boasted a better return – and likewise his passing over what is defined as “medium” range (91.7 per cent).
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