Emery must now unleash Aston Villa's £130k-p/w "wildcard"

Emery must now unleash Aston Villa’s £130k-p/w “wildcard”

Aston Villa play Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this afternoon, and they will be hoping to make it back-to-back top-flight wins for the first time in 2024.

The Villans secured a 2-1 win against Fulham last week and Unai Emery will be hoping his side can grab another three points today, especially with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United breathing down their neck in the chase for the final Champions League spot.

Aston Villa team news vs Nottingham Forest

The good news for Emery is that he will have an unchanged squad to choose from following the victory last weekend.

He does have a few players still out with long-term injuries, however. Boubacar Kamara, Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia will all likely miss the rest of the season.

The clash this weekend comes too soon for Ezri Konsa, while Jhon Duran and Diego Carlos also miss out, but at least the Spaniard has no new injury concerns to deal with.

Despite the win last week, he may make a change or two to freshen up his starting XI and this could see Moussa Diaby come into the team.

Moussa Diaby’s season in numbers

The 24-year-old had to make do with an appearance from the bench against the Cottagers last week, yet he could come in to replace Jacob Ramsey, especially if Emery deploys a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The former Bayer Leverkusen gem has registered 12 goal contributions this season so far – six goals and six assists – yet these figures are slightly underwhelming considering Villa smashed their transfer record to sign him last summer.

The 5 foot 7 Frenchman has yet to establish himself as one of the first names on the team sheet, but a positive performance against Forest could restore his confidence.

Diaby currently ranks fifth among his teammates for goals and assists (eight) in the top flight this term so far, along with ranking second for shots on target per game (0.7), fourth for big chances created (eight) and fifth for successful dribbles per game (0.8), proving that he has contributed effectively across a range of metrics.

One scout lauded Diaby as a “wildcard”, a player who could change a game within moments and, while he has yet to showcase his true talents in the Midlands, Emery clearly has plenty of faith in the £130k-per-week winger.

Moussa Diaby in the Premier League this season

Goals

4

Assists

4

Scoring frequency (minutes)

373

Shots on target per game

0.7

Big chances created

8

Stats via Sofascore

There is no doubt that if he is in the mood, Diaby could terrorise the Forest defence and another three points could be crucial in the chase for a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League.

The Frenchman has between now and May to really up his game and cement a place in the starting XI and if he can replicate his form over the coming months that he displayed in the Bundesliga, Spurs and United could be running scared.

With European football coming up in the coming weeks too, the former Paris Saint-Germain starlet will get plenty of chances to shine, and he could even lead the club to their first major trophy in 28 years.