Aston Villa

David Michael
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

In modern football, where fans often obsess over profit and sustainability rules and transfer fees, it is bizarre that some Aston Villa supporters are happily entertaining the idea of offloading Jhon Duran this transfer window.

For a team fighting on three fronts - the Champions League, FA Cup, and Premier League - having two strikers is a bare minimum. Villa's squad depth has been stretched thin in past seasons and letting go of Duran now would be seen as irresponsible, considering there is a matter of days left to replace him.

His goals - mainly from the bench - have been invaluable, particularly in Europe where, without them, Villa would likely be scrapping just to get into the play-offs rather than having the chance to qualify for the knockout stages automatically.

Duran has provided an X-factor for this stuttering Villa team - seven league goals way above his expected goals (xG) figure of 4.86, while in the Champions League with an xG of only 0.9, he has produced three memorable crackers.

While Ollie Watkins leads the line admirably and is Villa's top scorer in the league (10), a Watkins-only attack has, at times, misfired, with striker leading the 'Big Chances Missed' in the league with 19.

By his own admission, Unai Emery has struggled to find a way to play both players together, but he perhaps must try harder considering how Villa can be one-dimensional in their approach to chasing games.

The idea of parting with a 21-year-old talent with immense potential feels short-sighted. Sure, if Villa fail to secure Champions League football next season, Duran might be the first name on the transfer list to balance the books, given reported interest from PSG, Real Madrid, and Al Nassr. But, as things stand, Villa need him and Emery certainly wants him to stay.

"Some circumstances are not helping us to focus 100%," reflected the Villa boss in a post-West Ham interview. "Jhon Duran is our player and I am happy with him. I want him here. I want him here with us."

Find more from David Michael at My Old Man Said, external

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We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Aston Villa and West Ham.

Here are some of your comments:

Villa fans

Henry: Brilliant Villa performance up until Tyrone Mings' injury. After that, we lacked leadership and purpose. Lucas Digne did his best but was very shaky on the ball. A point in the end is something to be happy with. Villa need a senior centre back replacement as soon as possible to try and save the season as letting Carlos go without getting a replacement centre-back in first seems criminal. Big effort now needed against Celtic on Wednesday!

Ian: Villa fell apart when Mings went off. Usual poor passing and giving the ball away. We need better performances if we are to achieve a European spot. Looks like the normal fade away at the tail end of the season.

Damien: Really disappointing, especially after scoring early instead of conceding early as we have been lately. The attack was so disjointed for most of the game and the players looked weary and hopeless. Boubacar Kamara was the only bright spot again. We seem to suffer a drop off both pre and post-Champions League matches which is worrying.

David: The first 10 minutes showed just how good we can be but it was downhill from there. When Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers went off, our ability to retain the ball up the pitch disappeared. The cameo from Donyell Malen was promising though.

West Ham fans

Ben: Absolutely brilliant second-half performance from a threadbare squad. Lucas Paqueta, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Tomas Soucek and Oliver Scarles were all tremendous. Great point and we deserved more. The wizard is weaving his magic. Front-foot football has returned to West Ham. Keep it up.

Mike: Gritty and determined effort from the boys. Paqueta was different class today - where's that player been all season? Let's hope his injury isn't too bad. We'd have won this by a long way if we hadhad a top-class number nine.

Mark: How Paqueta played up front had shades of Cantona. Wan-Bissaka was man of the match. Ran his socks off - what a player. Encouraging second half!

Barry: We started poorly, way too open. We conceded and was lucky for that to not increase. But, we worked our way back into the game and was well worth the point we got. Paqueta was immense on his own, holding the ball up and bringing players in. It is a good point away to Villa.

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Tyrone Mings has released a positive update on the injury he sustained against West Ham.

Shortly after Sunday's draw against the Hammers he took to Instagram to write: "I've had some serious knee injuries, this isn't one of them".

Aston Villa are in talks to to sign Argentina defender Juan Foyth, 27, from Villarreal after failing to bring in French defender Loic Bade, 24, from Sevilla. (Talksport), external

Chelsea's French centre-back Axel Disasi, 26, is also a target for Aston Villa as they try to bring in a defender before the winter transfer window closes. (Football Insider), external

Argentina midfielder Emiliano Buendia, 28, has agreed a one-year contract extension to his current deal with Aston Villa, which was due to run out in 2026, amid interest from Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia. (Athletic), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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Highlights and analysis from Sunday's four Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to the weekend's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Wolves 0-1 Arsenal

• Man City 2-1 Chelsea

• Tottenham 1-2 Leicester

• Crystal Palace 1-2 Brentford

• Aston Villa 1-1 West Ham

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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "They were pushing and got into our box and scored one goal. We didn't feel strong or the fresh legs to recover or dominate or try to score.

"We have circumstances like the injury of Tyrone Mings and we don't have another proper centre-back."

On Mings' injury: "I don't know. Tomorrow we will test him and hopefully, it is not a lot. Things like that are punishing us.

"We started the second part of the season with two wins and two draws. We are very ambitious and we want more.

"We have to keep going and focus on Wednesday, recover some players, and try to use the last week in the transfer window. We have to get our performances quality. We want to play in Europe."

Image source, Getty Images

After his assist for Jacob Ramsey, Ollie Watkins became the second Aston Villa player to be directly involved in 100+ Premier League goals (61 goals, 39 assists) after with Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Watkins reached the century in just 169 appearances - 108 fewer than Agbonlahor (277).

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Aston Villa's performance

What did you make of West Ham's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Four matches make up Sunday's Premier League action.

• Tottenham v Leicester - 14:00

• Crystal Palace v Brentford - 14:00

• Aston Villa v West Ham - 16:30

• Fulham v Man Utd - 19:00

All kick-off times GMT

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Aston Villa are eighth in the Premier League and ninth in the Champions League, so their season is hardly a disaster - they just look a little bit flat at times.

Their striker situation is something that Villa boss Unai Emery has got to sort out because he put Jhon Duran on to play with Ollie Watkins in the second half against Monaco, and they are not playing well together

I don't know if that is an ego thing, where both strikers want to be the main man, but they both need to have a think about what benefits the team.

As a former striker myself, I know how other strikers want to be fed, and how to have an understanding to create situations, but that does not seem to be happening - Watkins and Duran are not connecting or clicking, which is a worry.

For a partnership to work, you have got to understand your role in the team and how sometimes one of you has got to sacrifice yourself.

Believe it or not, I was pretty good at realising that, where I was in the pecking order, and how to adapt my game. There are people out there who would say I was unselfish and a team player, and I wouldn't argue with that.

I know there is a different view because I listen to my old strike-partner Alan Shearer speaking to Erling Haaland about how you have to be single-minded in front of goal.

You do, you have to be selfish when it comes to taking chances. But football is a team game and sometimes you have to be prepared to adapt and roll your sleeves up - Shearer always did it - and try to play roles that you don't necessarily want to play, for the good of the team.

When Aston Villa's squad is stretched and a little bit fatigued, Watkins and Duran should be capable enough, and have enough understanding of how to feed each other, because strikers know how to do it.

Not doing it is a bit of a blot on the copybooks of both players. They are both very talented players, but they need to work this out for the good of the team. Maybe Emery needs to whack some Brazilian music on in training to sort them out?

Seriously, though, this is a crucial time in Villa's season and I think they will get past West Ham.

Graham Potter's side were jammy when they beat Fulham last week, but I don't see them being lucky enough to beat Villa.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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Earlier, we asked you to name the former Aston Villa manager from a series of clues.

The answer was Paul Lambert, who was in charge between 2012 and 2015.

Marissa Thomas
BBC Sport journalist

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against West Ham at Villa Park (kick-off 16:30 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Emery was asked if he expects any more incomings or outgoings before the January transfer window closes: "We are open to try to improve the squad until the last moment and we are open as well in case someone is leaving. Of course, Diego Carlos left last week and we have to replace him. We are focusing with the sporting director and the club on which players could potentially replace Diego Carlos."

• On new signing Andres Garcia: "He is a right full-back, potential, young player. He was progressing so quickly, and I knew him before. I know how he was doing, as a person as well. We decided to sign him because we were thinking it was a good opportunity, just in this moment - a really good opportunity. He is progressing so quick in his career."

• Emery gave his thoughts on Villa's ambitions: "Of course, for the history of Aston Villa, to try to be a contender, building the team, getting the structure stronger, trying to be contenders in the future for trophies as well, is another objective we have to add. To play in Europe was another objective."

• He continued: "We started two years ago, and we are in this process we planned, but the process is through the players, through the mentality as a team. We can be demanding, setting very ambitious objectives. We have a lot of players with a very good mentality - and a lot of players, they have improved a lot in having the right mentality we want, but there's still work to do."

• On facing West Ham: "Very important, those three points on Sunday against West Ham. Very difficult, because all matches in the Premier League are very difficult. Of course, West Ham, they are not being consistent, but they have a new coach now. Tactically, they are going to improve, playing matches, and they have very good players as well. Maybe they have some important players injured but, for us, Sunday is very important."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Name this former Aston Villa manager from the following clues:

• I won the Champions League as a player.

• I was appointed as Villa manager in 2012 and was in charge for almost three years.

• My most recent managerial role was with Ipswich, which ended in March 2021.

Answer will be revealed at 17:00 GMT

This Premier League pursuit becomes a lot easier if you take your chances.

BBC Sport has checked in on some data comparing goals versus expected goals this season.

You can see from the bar graph some teams aren't finding the goals (yellow) to outstrip the expected goals they should score (black).

Tottenham, Manchester City, Arsenal, Brentford, Newcastle, Brighton, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Leicester have all scored more than expected.

Wolves in particular have found the net 32 times from an expected 23.56 - a significant overperformance.

League leaders Liverpool are pretty much bang on in returning what they should, while Arsenal have outperformed, with 43 goals from an expected 37.78.

Bournemouth - 36 goals from an expected 43 - are leaving opportunities on the table.

Aston Villa want to bring in French centre-back Loic Bade, 24, from Sevilla after allowing Brazilian defender Diego Carlos to sign for Fenerbache. (Express and Star), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

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Only Arsenal (14) are on a longer home unbeaten run in the Premier League than Aston Villa (10).

Villa have only had three previous runs of 11 or more unbeaten games at Villa Park, most recently between March and December 2023 when they won 16 out of 17 games.

Highlights after Aston Villa missed the chance to virtually secure a place in the Champions League knockouts with defeat away at Monaco on Tuesday night.

Aston Villa and Newcastle United are set to battle it out for 27-year-old England and AC Milan centre-back Fikayo Tomori. (Football Insider, external)

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