Aston Villa have one foot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League after they beat Belgian giants Club Brugge 3-1 away from home in the first leg.
The Villans, who host the Pro League side in Birmingham for the second leg next week, secured the win thanks to goals from Leon Bailey and Marco Asensio, either side of an own goal from Brandon Mechele.
Unai Emery will be delighted that his side have a healthy advantage to take back to Villa Park as they look to secure their place in the last eight of the competition.
Things could have been different, however, if not for an unbelievable clearance from England international Tyrone Mings, who prevented Hans Vanaken from putting the hosts 2-1 up by diverting his header just past the post with an athletic intervention.
Whilst there were plenty of positives to take from the evening clash in Bruges, there were also some disappointing individual performances for the Premier League outfit.
One player who did not show the full extent of his quality at the top end of the pitch was Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford, who started on the left flank.
Marcus Rashford's performance against Club Brugge
Emery selected the England international ahead of the likes of Asensio and Jacob Ramsey to play as part of an attacking midfield three behind Ollie Watkins, alongside Morgan Rogers and Bailey.
Whilst Rogers forced the own goal from Mechele with a brilliant cross in the second half and Bailey opened the scoring with a sublime half-volleyed effort into the bottom corner, Rashford ended the game without any direct contribution to a goal for the Villans.
Chalkboard
The right-footed speedster was taken off in the 64th minute after a fairly uneventful showing on the wing, as Club Brugge right-back Kyriani Sabbe largely kept him quiet – winning five of his six duels and making four tackles.
Rashford did not create a single chance for his teammates in those 64 minutes on the pitch. However, he did create a chance for himself when he worked an opportunity on the right side of the pitch, making an underlapping run to fire an effort at Simon Mignolet from a tight angle.
The 27-year-old forward also let himself down out of possession by losing four of his five duels and failing to make a single tackle or interception to help his side out defensively.
Whilst it is his natural position to play out on the left wing, it may be worthwhile for Emery to see how he fares as the lone centre-forward for the Villans before the end of the season.
Why Marcus Rashford should be used as a striker
Firstly, Rashford has the blistering pace that would allow him to make runs on the last line to create chances for himself against teams that play in a mid-to-high block.
The English forward has played 153 matches as a centre-forward in his club career for Villa and Manchester United combined, which shows that it is not a position that he is unfamiliar with.
As you can see in the clips above, Rashford has the quality to score brilliant goals at Premier League level from positions off the left or centrally, which suggests that he can comfortably play in either role.
The experienced forward’s career record as a striker, at club level, also suggests that the potential is there for it to be his best position on the pitch for the Villans.
Appearances
153
226
51
Goals
59
69
13
Assists
20
36
7
Goals + assists per game
0.52
0.46
0.39
As you can see in the table above, Rashford is at his most productive in front of goal when playing as a centre-forward, with 0.52 goals and assists combined per game on average throughout his career.
This is important to keep in mind because Ollie Watkins was even worse than Rashford in the win over Club Brugge and Emery should boldly drop him from the starting XI for this weekend’s clash with Brentford.
Why Ollie Watkins should be dropped
Villa left themselves with the former Bees man as their only recognised, natural, centre-forward when they sold Jhon Duran during the January transfer window.
However, they brought in the likes of Asensio, Donyell Malen, and Rashford, who can all play across the frontline, and Emery should utilise Rashford’s versatility to provide Watkins with a rest against Brentford – ahead of the second leg clash with Club Brugge next week.
Watkins put in a tired showing against the Belgian side on Tuesday night. The Villa star played 89 minutes without registering a shot on target, a key pass, or a completed dribble, whereas the Red Devils loanee at least managed a shot on target to test Mignolet and completed a dribble.
Rashford, at least, troubled the goalkeeper and tried to make things happen by dribbling at defenders in the final third, whilst his international teammate did little to cause the opposition any problems at all.
The ex-Brentford man was described as “world class” by journalist Jack Grimse last year and has scored 31 goals in the Premier League since the start of last season, but that does not make him immune to criticism or to the odd bad performance.
Watkins was handed a dismal player rating of 3/10, worse than Rashford’s 4/10, by the Express, who noted that he only had one shot on goal, and now could be the time for Emery to boldly drop him from the XI.
The 29-year-old forward lost seven of his eight duels in the game, as Club Brugge defenders dominated him in physical battles, and he has now gone four games without a goal – missing three ‘big chances’ in the process.
His poor display in Bruges, coupled with his wasteful form in front of goal of late, suggests that this could be the right time for Emery to take him out of the firing line for a game, both to provide Rashford with a chance to show what he can do as a striker as well as handing Watkins a much-needed rest.
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This would, hopefully, allow the England international to return to the starting line-up against Club Brugge for the second leg with fresh legs and a desire to bounce back with a strong showing to secure the club’s place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
